


The Wheel of Life is Turning

by Wynkat



Series: All the little weres' asleep in their den [10]
Category: Adam Lambert (Musician), Glam Rock RPF, Tommy Ratliff (Musician)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Werecreatures, Kitsune, Magic, Minor Character Death, Multi, Non-Graphic Violence, Rituals, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-03
Updated: 2013-03-03
Packaged: 2017-12-04 04:17:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 42,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/706447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wynkat/pseuds/Wynkat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>“After the accident,” Säana said. “Your father became heir to the Jasmine Throne. Because of this, your grandmother has decreed that he must name an heir. The Prince has had several – liaisons -resulting in children. You, Thomas Daiki are his only living child.”</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue - Hope

**Author's Note:**

> Many thanks to my Pre-readers, Cheerleaders, and awesome Betas: @Thrace_Adams, @Loevenhardt1, @aislinntlc, @Leela_cat. To @moodwriter for the gift of her native tongue and Finish translations. To @moosatcows for holding my hand during a rough patch. And a million thanks to my hubby @Rimblemethis for all of his support and evil, evil suggestions!
> 
>  
> 
> This is for everyone who cheered me on in comments, emails and twitter. Thank you all for hanging in there while this made it slow way to posting. *Mwhahahaha* *sprinkles glitter on you all*
> 
>  
> 
> Disclaimer: The Glamily belong to themselves (or perhaps Adam, depending on how you look at things) I’m just borrowing their Avatars ‘cause they’re pretty and interesting, the rest of the plot of insanity belongs to me. And seeing as how this is an Alternate Universe filled with werewolves, kitsune and assorted other magical stuff – do I really need to point out that this is ALL fiction? Awesome. *(more)glitter for all*

Prologue - Hope

_“Vulpeological evidence collected over a 200 year period, from more than a dozen sites around Europe, Africa and Asia point to a cross-cultural belief in plants being markers for divinely granted kingship. A similar find at a Lycanthropological dig in the Ural mountains in the late 1990s suggests that such beliefs actually crossed Versipelological boundaries. If such a claim can be supported with additional documentation, it would change our understanding of not only Lycanthrope culture, but also our understanding of the governing structures and pack management of all the known Versipellis societies."_  
– “Society, race, and kingship; a cross-cultural study of our Versipellis neighbors", page 17  
By Marisa K. T’Changa, professor of Vulpeology, Department of Versipelology, UC Berkeley

Once, long ago, on a hill top far away, there grew a beautiful flower called Love’s Star. It was shaped like the heavens and its nine tiny petals were wrapped in the sweetest smell ever created. It grew upon softly curving vines that could blanket the ground or weave together the largest trees. Its leaves were deepest green and shaped like the rain. And when the winds blew, the song of Love’s Star could heal a broken heart or bathe a soul in wisdom.

Some say that its petals were gold and bloomed only upon the equinox, when day and night were balanced and the powers of life and death ceased their endless round to dance together as equals. One story claims that a witch brought the flower forth from the very center of the earth and that the color of its skin had roiled like a storm tossed sea for three nights before disappearing forever. Another tale says that it was possible to entice the flower to bloom, if one’s need were great and their heart pure. And still another legend says that no matter when the flower blooms, it is always watched over by a fox under the warmth of the sun and by a wolf within the stillness of the moon.

Whatever the truth of the tale, there is one thing all fox-kin know: Love’s Star has not bloomed anywhere in all the lands in over three hundred years. It is rumored that the last remaining branch, gray and fragile without its gifts, is kept in a secret garden at the heart of the lands and that when that final stalk dies, the world will weep itself into an endless sleep. 

Fox-kin also know, though they will not say the words to strangers, that only when the third son of the third son of the third son is born, will Love’s Star bloom again and balance be restored. 

As with all things, the truth is all of this, and none.


	2. Chapter One – Family

_“It was long believed that werewolves, like their vulpine cousins, mated for life. A series of articles with the Alpha of the Washington D.C. pack, Salvador Antares, published in “Lycanthropology Monthly” (Oct – Dec 2005) revealed that only the Alpha pair of a pack in fact mates for life. Other mated pairs appear similar to their human cousins in the rate of “divorce” and the longevity of relationships.  
_

“Alpha Antares would not discuss the birth rate or practices of lycanthropes, though evidence collected as early as 1757 by Dr. James Colson of the Queen’s Board on Shifters, suggests that Alpha females at least carry their litters (often times consisting of two or more fetuses) while in wolf form.”  


\- “Family dynamics in Lycanthrope Packs”, p. 83  


By Angela Nelson, Quiet Lives Press, 2008

The buses were rolling along a highway somewhere in the middle of the country. Tommy wouldn’t have been able to say which city they were headed to if his life depended on it. He didn’t really give a fuck either at the moment. He was warm and comfortable and completely uninterested in moving ever again. Getting fucked into the mattress by an alpha werewolf, especially one who was your mate, had a tendency to leave you pleasantly worn out. Tommy smirked. He should know, it happened to him a lot.

“Mmmm,” Tommy purred as Adam stroked his hair. 

“You good, babe?”

“Mm hmm.”

Adam chuckled. “Did I break you?”

“Mm hmmm.”

“I see. Will you be better by morning?”

Tommy nipped at the closest skin he could find, missing Adam’s nipple by an inch. “If morning comes with more sex and a lot of coffee, then yeah, I could manage that.”

Adam laughed, the sound echoing through his chest, the movement rocking Tommy gently. “Sex and coffee – that all you need, my pretty fox?”

Tommy shrugged. He hid his face, refusing to let Adam see how much he and his kitsune liked being called Adam’s and pretty. “Eh, I’m easy. “

“Mmm and so, so good-“ Adam tugged Tommy’s head up and licked at his lips before kissing him, soft and slow and sweet. Tommy melted a little further into the bed. 

Right then of course, Adam’s cell phone went off, playing some horrid remix of a Daft Punk track. 

“Whoever that is, they need to die,” Tommy groaned, clutching at Adam to keep him in bed. “Slowly and on another planet where they can’t bother us.” 

Adam dipped down and pressed a quick kiss to Tommy’s lips then pulled away. “That’s Neil.”

“Even worse. He knows we’re on the bus fucking. He’s just calling to cock block you.”

Adam grinned. “Can’t cock block me when I’ve already gotten laid.”

Tommy rolled away, clutching a pillow to his chest, chewing on his bottom lip. Phone calls at this hour never meant anything good. Worse, since it was Neil calling, Adam was likely to be up pacing and talking instead of being warm and soft where Tommy wanted him. 

“This better be good,” Adam huffed into the phone, then paused, listened and held up a hand as if his brother could see him. “Slow down, Neil. Say that again.” 

Tommy sat up, all pretense of pouting gone. He watched Adam dig out a t-shirt from somewhere amid the clutter on the floor and pull it over his head, then stop, shirt only half way on. Adam went still, his whole body locking in place as he listened. Tommy leaned forward trying to hear, offering support. 

“Is he okay?” Adam asked, voice devoid of emotion. 

“What?” Tommy whispered. Adam shook his head, waving Tommy off. 

“Where was the security team?” A chilly anger laced through Adams words. That worried Tommy. He pushed off the bed, sorted through their clothes and came up with a pair of jeans for both of them. He had a feeling it was going to be a long night. 

“Damn it,” Adam said. “They were supposed to keep the perimeter clear.” 

Tommy thrust a pair of jeans at Adam and then raised an eyebrow when Adam ignored them.

“In a minute,” Adam mouthed at him. “Go on, Neil – where’s Doug now?” Adam nodded and then went silent, frowning. “Shit. What about Warren?” 

Tommy tapped Adam’s arm again and pointed at the phone and then at himself and the jeans. Adam nodded. He put the phone down on the bed and tapped the screen. Barely looking at what he was doing, Adam took the jeans and wiggled into them as Neil’s voice filled the room. 

“--got him to a local ‘were clinic. They have him in surgery now. Last thing the nurse would tell me, before she brushed me off, was that they were cautiously optimistic.” 

“What the hell does that mean?”

“How should I know? It sounds like the same crap the docs told us when Dad was attacked ten years ago.” 

“Yeah, and dad never fucking pulled through!” 

“Exactly.” 

“God damn it!” Adam pushed a hand through his hair, making one side stand on end. “How the hell did this happen, Neil?!” 

There was a pause and then Neil said, “They paid off someone. They had everything: passwords, crew roster, even your real travel schedule.” 

Tommy sucked in a breath. That shouldn’t have been possible in a ‘were clan. Sure it happened. There were fucked up packs and clans just like there were fucked up families, but not this one. Well, not until Tommy had turned up. Tommy’s inclusion, not just as the guitarist in the band, but in Adam’s life as his mate, had set off something old and dark in the clan that even Adam and Neil’s mother hadn’t seen coming. Adam’s inner circle was still trying to trace the wolf that had put Dylan up to attacking Adam four months ago. 

“They slipped in while the busses were loading up and the local crew was getting to work striking the stage,” Neil said, “It looks like they were hoping to strike before you pulled out but something happened. They still managed to take down the two new kids we had on gate duty.”

Adam closed his eyes, his face draining of color. “Who?”

“Jason and Kristy,” Neil said quietly. 

“How bad?” Adam asked just as softly. 

Neil was silent. Tommy closed his eyes. His heart clenched. He’d only talked to Jason a couple of times but he was a sweet kid and Kristy was always bugging him for guitar lessons. How could they be dead? 

Tommy sat on the edge of the bed beside Adam. When Adam didn’t shoo him away, Tommy wrapped his arms around Adam’s waist and nuzzled in along Adam’s neck. 

“Do their parents know?” Adam asked, one hand coming around to tug Tommy closer. 

“Mom’s with them now,” Neil replied. 

“Who’s responsible?” When Neil said nothing, Adam and his wolf growled together, their voices taking up all the space in the small room and pushing into the phone, toward Neil. “Who. Was. It? Who betrayed us? Who betrayed me?”

Tommy could imagine Neil tossing his head, curling his hands into fists until they bled, fighting the urge to roll belly up for his brother and Alpha, not wanting to anger Adam further but needing to obey his leader.

“Pittman,” Neil said at last.

“Shit,” Tommy whispered. 

“Monte?” Adam asked, his voice breaking at the end. He pushed away from Tommy and stood up, his grief palpable. And just under his skin, coiled and waiting, was his rage. Tommy could feel Adam’s wolf scratching at the edges of Adam’s control. Tommy’s kitsune yowled in the back of his head, wanting to soothe his mate, wanting to attack everyone who had hurt Adam and their clan. 

When Adam spoke again the grief was gone, replaced by ice cold anger. “Monte sold me out?”

“I’m sor-,” Neil said; Adam cut him off. “How many did you capture?”

“One’s still alive. I sent him off to LA under guard as soon as we had the situation under control. Lee and Cam should have him locked up and squealing in about an hour. Four others were injured but died before we could get anything out of them. Five more never made it past the guards.” 

“What did you get off the dead?” 

“You’re not going to like it.”

“I already don’t like it,” Adam spat out. “Stop dragging your fucking feet and answer my question, Neil.”

“They were tattooed. All of them. Human and wolf both.” The words were cut off like broken pieces of glass. 

“With what?” Adam paced as much as the tiny cabin would let him, away from the bed, four steps to the door, turn and four steps back. Tommy counted.

“They were covered in wolf tattoos. Full sleeves and backs on most of them. Two of them had full suits.”

“That doesn’t mean-“ 

“The fuck it doesn’t!” Neil barked. “It was the Demon Wolves, Adam. The fucking Akuma Ōokami.” 

“The Akuma Ōokami don’t have members over here, Dad gave his life to make sure of that.” 

The Demon Wolves were practically a myth in the States. They were an arm of the infamous Yakuza, only worse because they were werewolves. Crazy, berserker ‘weres with no conscious. The last time anyone had seen them was a decade ago. Tommy hadn’t realized that it was Adam’s pack, led by his father, who had pushed them back. Tommy wrapped his arms across his chest. This whole thing smelled wrong. There were too many things happening at once and too many of them odd, even for their clan. 

“The tattoos could be the Angels or half the packs from down south.”

“That’s bullshit and you know it. I saw them, Adam. Do you need pictures? Proof? The damn tattoos were snarling wolves intertwined with dragons and streams of kanji! Damn it, Adam, I’m telling you, it was the fucking Akuma Ōokami!”

Adam stopped pacing, his face turned toward the door. He was shaking his head like the whole thing confused him. “What was Tetsu thinking? He can’t run a pack on two sides of the damn ocean.”

“Adam-“ Tommy reached out and gripped Adam’s arm, as realization hit. There really was too much going on. Too many magical creatures coming out of the woodwork all at once. Fear streaked up his spine in an icy wave. “A pack of Japanese werewolves? That gift box from a Qilin? And then that visit from the Ala.” He stared at Adam. “That can’t be a coincidence.”

“What? Is that Tommy?” Neil asked. “You had a visit from an Ala- why the hell didn’t you tell me?”

“It was a couple of days ago,” Adam replied. “I – she turned a hallway at the venue into a- ” Adam stared at Tommy, his eyes wide and edged with gray. 

Tommy was having trouble breathing. There were too many things that didn’t make sense and yet somehow all fit together. 

“What? What did she do?” Neil called out from the phone. 

“She brought a hail storm into the hallway,” Tommy said when Adam only continued to stare at him. “She said she was giving me a gift.”

“Shit. Shit! Ala’s don’t just give out gifts, Tommy. You have to win their respect, their trust. And even then they don’t grant them that easily. And if you don’t- ” Neil trailed off. 

Adam turned his head, looking back to the door. “A gift. She left you a gift, just like the Qilin. Both of those were gifts for you, Tommy.”

“Oh hell,” Neil said, his tone of voice shifting like he’d just remembered something. “Damn.”

“What?” Adam asked, his gaze back on Tommy. 

“All of the wolves we cleaned up had a picture of Tommy on them. And, one of them- right before he died, he swore that they were going kill you, Adam, and take Tommy with them.”

Tommy reached for Adam and was met half way, their fingers smacking together in their need to touch. Tommy watched Adam’s face. His mask of leadership was slipping off and on, trading places with the worry and fear that Tommy could feel vibrating between them. 

“Have Lee call me when he’s done,” Adam said, his eyes dark, his face grim. “I want to know everything that bastard wolf tells him.”

“Was planning on it.”

“Double the guards around the Homestead.”

“The Homestead? But they hit us at the concert venue in Colorado,” Neil said.

“And you and your team killed or captured all of the wolves they sent. Do you really think they’re going to let that go?”

“No.”

“No. The Yakuza and the Akuma Ōokami don’t give a shit about collateral damage. Lock down Homestead. And change up all the patrols and passwords. Nothing stays the same as before. Nothing.”

“Will do. Do you want me to recall Jonathan and his team from their field training?”

Adam nodded. “Yeah, get him back and track down Mitchell, you’ll need his connections with the underground to seal up any other holes you haven’t found.”

“Will do. Anything else?”

“Go home.”

“Adam-“

“Don’t argue with me. I need you safe. You’re my legal heir, Neil. If anything happens you need to take care of Mom and the clan.”

Neil was silent, but Tommy could hear him struggling to calm his breathing.

“Neil?”

“Yeah. Yeah,” Neil said at last. “I’ll leave as soon as I can get a flight home.”

“Don’t let Mom or the pups out of your sight.”

“Riff, Rose, and Mason have already been sent to the safe house. Kevin’s gone to bring the twins in. Mom’s going to join them and their parents when she finishes here.”

“Good.” Adam sighed. “I wish-“ Adam left thought unfinished, and there was an aching sorrow in his voice that made Tommy’s heart hurt. 

“I know. But you can’t. You can’t let them see you stumble. You need to show them how strong you are. How strong _we_ are. And sing your ass off. We’ll handle things here. ”

“Yeah. “ Adam nodded again. “Yeah, Okay.”

Adam thumbed the phone off and sank down on the edge of the bed. He dropped his head into his hands. “Shit.” 

Tommy studied Adam for a moment then knelt and opened the cabinet beside the bed. He keyed in the code for the gun safe and withdrew two pairs of knives in leather sheaths, setting them on the bed beside Adam.

Adam dropped his hands to his lap with a thud and Tommy could feel him staring holes into his back. “What are you doing?” 

Tommy snorted, locked the safe and closed the cabinet. He turned to the knives on the bed. He unclipped the safety strap on the first knife and pulled it from its gray sheath. The silver blade glistened even in the low light in the room. Tommy checked the edges, knowing that they were sharp enough to slice through flesh as though it were water. Satisfied that the blade was as clean as when he last put it away, Tommy resheathed it and moved on to the second gray sheath. He checked the second silver knife, set it back on the bed and picked up the first of the black sheathed knives. As he slid the steel blade into the light he heard Adam suck in a breath. 

“Have I ever cut myself?” Tommy asked softly.

Adam blew out his breath. “Not on purpose, no.”

“Well then.” Tommy checked the edges of both steel knives, resisting the urge to let the iron slip and touch his skin. As much fun as that smoking pain could be, this was not the time to play. He resheathed both blades, dropped one onto the bed and picked up one of the silver knives. He handed them to Adam, hilts first. 

Adam looked at the knives and then at Tommy. 

“Take the fucking knives, Adam.”

“They’re supposed to be for emergencies.”

“There was just an attack on the clan and there are now nine dead Demon Wolves on our ledger. How is this not an emergency?”

Adam shook his head but took the knives, checked the guard straps and tucked them into the back of his waist band. “Fine. But you are not leaving my sight.” 

“Don’t even.” Tommy picked up the remaining two knives and slid them into place at his back. He’d need to pull out their spare leather belts to secure them to before they left the bus. 

“Tommy-“

“You have interviews and meet and greets to do. You can’t keep me safe and play rock star at the same time.” Adam opened his mouth to say something but Tommy raised a hand. “But I’ll keep my ass glued to Terrance or Brian the whole time. I’m not stupid, you know.” 

“I know.” Adam pulled Tommy toward him and wrapped his arms around Tommy’s waist. “I just- I can’t lose you.”

Tommy wrapped Adam in his arms and pressed a kissed to the top of his head. “You won’t.”

 

 


	3. Chapter Two - Connections

_“There is another tale, told late at night, when the moon is full and high in the sky, of how Nah-chu-rú-chu’s wife, the moon, was found and returned to him…_ “Buzzard did indeed spy a mounded hill in the center of a cotton wood forest, and he did bring back a gift from that place.   


_But unlike the stories of the human tribes, the Changing People say that Buzzard returned with a length of coarse white fur._ _And when Nah-chu-rú-chu sang his songs over this fur, his wife rose from the between the mantas Nah-chu-rú-chu had woven, not in human form, but covered in the silver white fur of a wolf.”_ \- Tales of the Changing Ones; Humans and Shifters of New Mexico, page 23  
Theodore Smith-Wyte, Editor

Tommy leaned into Adam’s side and looked down at the electronic tablet in Adam’s hands. Names, dates and schedules scrolled by as Adam tabbed through the document. Terrance was sitting in the chair next to Adam. There was a tablet in his lap, its screen lit up and filled with a page of data, but Terrance’s eyes were scanning the room. Ashley was standing just behind Tommy. Tommy could feel her presence like a comforting blanket on a cold night. That she and Terrance were “on duty” watching over Adam and Tommy even within the safety of the pack wasn’t so unusual. What was odd was the tension in them both, the way Terrance’s eyes never stayed still and Ashley’s right hand fiddled with the knives at her hip. Jeffry, Adam’s public security guard, the guy most of the fans saw, was standing by the door discreetly watching over everyone.

The rest of the band was gathered around them, sprawled on the couches, chairs and in some cases, the floor of Adam’s suite at the Hard Rock in Albuquerque. They’d just finished going over the schedule for the next few days including tech updates for that night’s sound check; notes from Matt, their Master Electrician, about a delay on changing out one of the special effects lights which brought a groan from everyone and a quiet snarl from Adam. That set of lights had been nothing but trouble lately. Brian had quickly steered them away from that frustration to a discussion of what songs Adam wanted to do for the encore. 

Brian cleared his throat and Tommy looked up to see Brian wave over the one man in the room who was not part of their pack or clan. The easy chatter fell away under the heavy weight of nerves.

“Some of you met Jimmy Ghost Crow last night after dinner, but for those of you who don’t know him, Jimmy is the head of security for the Spirit Moon clan of the Isleta Tribe.” 

Jimmy nodded his head to the room in general. The guy was taller than Adam in heels, which was a neat trick, had a broad chest and long dark hair that hung in a thick braid down his back. If Tommy hadn’t met Jimmy when he’d first stopped by to talk with Adam and Brian and seen the wicked grin on his face and the genuine love of people that permeated everything he said and did, Tommy would have been afraid to meet Jimmy pretty much anywhere.

“We had already contracted with the tribe for our usual on site crew and security staff but with the events of the other day, Jimmy offered to bring in his pack’s defense team.”

Tommy hid a snicker behind a cough. More like insisted, Tommy thought. Jimmy was a scary fucker when talking about security and the safety of his people. Since he’d decided to include the band as part of “his people” he was now being scary on their behalf. Tommy never ever wanted to get on Jimmy’s hit list.

Jimmy nodded to Brian and took over. “None of the local elders are happy about what happened to you folks in Colorado Springs. The Akuma Ōokami should never have gotten anywhere near you. That’s a stain on our hospitality and defensive systems and we can’t let that stand. They should never have made it that far into any pack territory.” 

There were understanding nods around the room. Pack boundaries and inter-pack etiquette were clearly defined around the world. The process of entering or leaving a territory was layered in protocol passed down from a time when relations between packs and with humans were much more volatile. The fact that Adam and his people, ‘weres and humans alike, were traveling all around the world touring meant some complicated planning and negotiations. And each pack that allowed Adam into their territory assumed a level of responsibility for Adam and his people while they were there. 

“So the human tribes know what happened?” Isaac asked. 

“We are part of the tribes. We are connected to the human spirit as they are connected to us. We are one even as we are different.”

There were a few surprised looks around the room and as many nods of agreement. This was the way the packs and humans were meant to live- had lived before the Civil War and the Animal Rights battles. 

If Tommy had been born into a tribe he might not have been cast out so quickly. 

Adam squeezed Tommy’s hand, knowing his thoughts without asking, and then spoke to Jimmy. “When we talked last night, you said you had a team picked out to join with ours.”

Jimmy nodded. “They’re waiting for you in the other room.”

“The plan,” Brian said, taking back the briefing, “is to mix Jimmy’s people in with our own so that all security details have members from each group. Jimmy’s people will be able to let us know if anyone slips onsite who they don’t recognize and we will be able to inform them about who is on staff with us.”

“Since all of the recent events have surrounded Adam and Tommy, they will be our primary focus for most of the security and venue planning. But,” Brian held up a hand as several people let out relieved breaths. “Don’t think that means any of you are off the hook.”

“The Akuma Ōokami will think nothing about killing or kidnapping anyone close to your Alpha and his mate.” Jimmy paused to look at each person in the room before continuing. “Anything that hurts them will work in the Akuma Ōokami’s favor. That means each of you is a possible target from this point on.”

The room went silent. 

“No one goes anywhere alone,” Brian said. “No one. I don’t care if it’s just a cigarette break. Take someone with you and let Security know where you’re going.” 

Brian paused and it was his turn to look each pack member in the eye. “Do you understand me?” 

Thoughtful faces and cautious nods rippled around the pack. 

When he was satisfied with everyone’s response, Brian nodded. “Okay then. You should also know that we won’t be changing security teams when we move on to Vancouver. We’ll still pick up a new load-in crew for the three shows at the Queen Elizabeth Theater, but Jimmy and his people will be staying on. We’ve got another bus coming in tonight just for security.” 

“Oh thank the moon,” Jeffry said with a smirk. “No more discussions about amps and rims at four in the morning.”

“Hey, you love that shit and you know it,” Isaac quipped back. 

“Safer to let you think so.” Jeffry waited a beat and then added, “For you.” 

Folks laughed and the tension in the room dissipated. 

“Yeah, yeah.” Brian sent a negligent wave Jeffry’s way. “Think what you like, bro, we’ve got your number. _And,_ sound check is in three hours. Behave yourselves till then.”

The bulk of the band made a strategic exit, with Terrance and Ashley staying behind. Tommy heard and saw most of them snickering as they went. Jeffry locked the door behind them before turning and leaning casually against it. Jimmy nodded his head to Brian and slipped into the spare bedroom where his team was waiting. 

“Yes, Dad,” Adam said to Brian with a grin. 

“Whatever man.” Brian laughed and tossed a finger at Adam. “You know you’re just gonna go shopping.”

“And this is a problem how?” Adam asked, his eyes comically wide. 

Terrance snickered and Brian laughed as he backed away with his hands up. “I ain’t taking that bait. You wanna get more clothes, that’s your problem man. And you get to explain to your driver where it’s gonna fit on the bus.”

Adam snorted and ducked his head. Tommy laughed out right. Brian and Tommy had been witness to the last conversation Donny, their driver, had had with Adam about his tendency to over pack. It had been funny as hell, except for the huge pout Adam had pulled in the name of fashion. 

“It’s okay, baby,” Tommy cooed. “I’ll distract you.”

“Really?” Adam’s eyebrow arched up toward his hairline. “What did you have in mind?”

Tommy twirled a finger in his hair and did his best dumb blond impression. “Hmmm… a movie? And popcorn!” 

Adam sputtered and then tossed a pillow at him. “You brat!”

“Hey, no pillow fighting in the meeting – you said!” Tommy screeched. 

“Meeting’s over,” Brian said calmly. 

“Fucker!” Tommy grinned and then tossed the pillow at Brian who caught it one handed and lobbed it over to an empty couch, effectively taking it out of play. Tommy crossed his arms in front of his chest and pouted. “Wow! Low blow, man.”

Brian shrugged. 

“Saved by the bell,” Adam said with a shit eating grin, as Jimmy and three other ‘weres entered the room. There were two men and a woman. Tommy could smell wolf, cat and something else he couldn’t make out on them. 

“Adam, Tommy--” Jimmy nodded to them and then waved to his people. “Meet the additional members of your personal security team. They’ll be joining Jeffry, Terrance and Ashley as part of your round the clock security.” 

Adam let out a heavy sigh and Tommy sympathized. It was bad enough getting followed by paps all the time; adding a layer of security was one more reminder of how different Adam’s and Tommy’s lives were these days. Tommy leaned into Adam and pressed a kiss to his shoulder. Adam sucked in another breath and nodded to the new people. 

“Janice Quiet Night Lucero,” Jimmy nodded to the one woman of the group. She looked at them with calm grey eyes. Her expression was neutral but her body language read predator. As she shifted in place, Tommy got a hint of her smell separate from the others -feline. “Will join Jeffry on his watch.” 

“Gentlemen,” Janice said, dipping her head toward Adam first then Tommy before stepping over to Jeffry to shake his hand. There was a moment of tension as their beasts rose to the surface to test the air around the other, then Jeffry nodded and took a step to his right, making room for Janice at the door. 

“Michael Grey Cloud will be teaming up with Ashley and Sebastian Sanchez with Terrance.”

Tommy studied each man as Jimmy introduced them. Michael was clearly the other wolf and beta to Jimmy’s Alpha. He was nearly as tall as Jimmy but wider by at least half a man. There were deep set crow’s feet at his eyes and a quick smile on his lips. He grinned at them and then came around the couch to offer his hand to Ashley. Ashley grinned back and they shook. Their wolves rubbed up against their edges sniffing and getting to know each other. 

Terrance stood and met Sebastian half way and offered his hand. “Welcome to the family, Sebastian.”

Sebastian smiled and shook Terrance’s hand. “Pleasure. Though I wish it could be under better circumstances. I’ve heard good things about you folks.”

“Same here,” Terrance said then looked at their joined hands. “What-?”

Sebastian waited, a look of amusement on his weathered face. Terrance’s wolf pressed at his skin, scenting, hunting. 

Tommy could almost see the ripple of gray fur along Terrance’s arms and back. Terrance tilted his head and sniffed. His wolf shifted and twisted in his control, seeking the source of the odd smell on Sebastian. 

“Forgive me,” Terrance said shaking his head. “I’ve never met anyone like you.”

“You wouldn’t have,” Jimmy said, dropping a large hand on Sebastian’s shoulder. “The tribes and packs do everything in our power to keep ‘weres like ‘Bastian happy and safe within our borders.”

“Why?” Tommy asked, his curiosity running ahead of his manners as usual. 

Sebastian grinned at Tommy then looked back at Terrance. “Do you know, gray-spirit?”

Terrance canted his head further to the side and closed his eyes. His wolf settled down, listening and looking, the same as Terrance. Sebastian placed his other hand over Terrance’s. There was a brief flare of light between their fingers. 

Terrance’s eyes snapped open. “No way.” 

Sebastian and Jimmy both smiled. 

“What? Terrance? What the hel-heck?” Tommy asked. 

“Running and wind and land with no limits,” Terrance whispered. “Miles and miles rushing past – more than I’ve ever felt. It was incredible.”

Sebastian nodded, his face going still and quiet. “You’ll have to come with me sometime.”

“I’d like that.”

“What am I missing?” Adam asked, looking between the two men. 

“Stallion,” Terrance said softly. 

“Yes,” Sebastian agreed, pulling Terrance into a hug. 

“A horse?” Tommy asked, shocked. “Horse-weres are a myth.”

Jimmy smiled. “To you perhaps. But not to us.”

“Oookay,” Tommy said. He’d thought things were odd before they went on tour, now he didn’t know what to think. Shit was just weird hangin’ with Adam’s clan. 

Sebastian turned to Tommy and laughed. “The fox spirit is surprised that I exist?”

Tommy cursed his pale skin as heat crept up his neck. “Yeah well, sue me.”

“Alright, folks,” Brian said, clapping his hands together. “Now that everyone’s been introduced, Adam-“ Brian pointed at their Alpha. “You will listen to your security team. Right?”

“Yes.” Adam rolled his eyes and Tommy elbowed him in the ribs. “What? I said yes.”

“Uh huh.”

“I know that you are capable of taking care of yourself under normal circumstances. But these are not normal circumstances.” Jimmy held Adam’s eyes until Adam nodded. “It’s our job to ensure your safety and to do that we need your help.”

“Yeah, I know. I’m sorry.” Adam waved his hand, taking in the whole room and himself. “I just don’t like this.”

“Understandable,” Brian said. “We’ll figure out what’s going on and then things can go back to normal.”

Adam snorted. “Define normal.” He waved his hand again. “Never mind. I’ll be good. We both will,” Adam said, looking over at Tommy. Tommy refrained from an eye roll of his own and settled for nodding. 

“Thank you,” Jimmy said. “I know you all have silver and iron knives. My people have similar sets plus a few other things that hopefully you’ll never learn about.” Michael chuckled. “Adam, Tommy, I’m not going to tell you not to draw your knives if something happens, but try to let your security handle things first.”

“Okay,” Adam said and Tommy nodded along with him. 

“Okay,” Brian said. He looked over at Terrance and Sebastian, “You two are up first. Check in with Pedro, he’s our lead for security. He can give you the run down on the rest of the security crew for this venue. 

“Roger that,” Terrance said. 

“Ashley and Michael you have second shift during the concert. Pedro will be on till everyone is back here after the show. Marissa is lead for the night shift. Jeffry and Janice, check in with her for updates. We’ll adjust the regular staff if anything goes bad at the venue. If things go as planned, it will be a slow night.” There were understanding looks from everyone. “Okay, Ashley, get some rest before sound check. Jimmy, I’ll leave things to you for now and go take some of my own advice and rest.”

“Sounds good,” Jimmy said. 

Everyone agreed, and moments later Adam and Tommy were alone in the suite with Terrance and Sebastian on guard outside the door to give them some privacy. 

Adam started to push off the couch but Tommy pulled him back down. “Hey, come here.”

“Tommy-“ 

“No. Pacing and worrying isn’t going to help. Or do you any good.”

“I can’t just sit here!” 

“Yes, you can,” Tommy insisted. He crawled into Adam’s lap and wrapped his arms around Adam’s neck. 

“There is nothing we can do right now. Well,” Tommy grinned. “Nothing we want to tell anyone about.”

Adam dropped his head back against the couch cushions, his brow furrowed. “This just sucks.” 

“I know.” Burrowing his nose into Adam’s neck, Tommy kissed his adam’s apple. When that brought no results he nipped at the taut skin. Adam shivered and brought his hands up to Tommy’s hips. 

“It’ll be okay,” Tommy whispered along Adam’s jaw between teasingly light kisses. 

Adam groaned. “Tommy…” 

“Mmm?” Tommy pushed his fingers into Adam’s hair and tugged Adam’s head down so that he could kiss him properly. Adam hesitated a moment then gave in with a growl.


	4. Chapter Three – Lineage

_The origin of the northern lights has various explanations in folklore and mythology. The Finnish name for the northern lights "revontulet" is associated with the arctic fox. According to a folk tale, an arctic fox is running far in the north and touching the mountains with its fur, so that sparks fly off into the sky as the northern lights. Another version of the story says the fox throws the northern lights up into the sky by sweeping snow upwards with its tail. A more developed version then explains how moonlight is reflected from the snowflakes swept up into the sky by the fox's tail._  
\- Beliefs on Indigenous People, Aurora Borealis, P. 1  
http://finland.fi/Nature_Environment/aurora/beliefs.html 

“Tell me again why I’m being dragged to a dinner meeting with you?” Tommy teased as they stepped out of the car in front of what Adam swore was the best Japanese restaurant in Vancouver. Jeffry was standing beside the rear of the car watching the area around them. “Not that I mind the free food, of course.”

“Of course.” Adam chuckled. They followed Janice toward the building and Adam nodded to the official looking dude holding the door open for them. 

“Whatever, man.” Tommy let Adam play the gentleman and guide him, hand to Tommy’s back, into the understated elegance of the restaurant. “I’m just saying. Dinner meetings are your job.”

“Welcome, Mr. Lambert, Mr. Ratliff,” the host said, bowing his head at each of them in turn. “If you’ll follow me, I’ll take you to your party.”

“Thank you,” Adam pressed lightly on Tommy’s back and they moved as one into the restaurant. 

Adam leaned in toward Tommy, pressed a kiss to his ear and whispered, “Would you believe me if I said I couldn’t live without you?” 

Tommy elbowed him lightly and snorted. “No.”

“I’m wounded for life,” Adam said, pouring on the drama. 

“Yeah right.”

Adam laughed. “Whatever. The truth is that the people we are meeting with asked to have you to join us.”

“Really? What the hell for?”

Adam shrugged. “You’re pretty?”

Their guide turned a corner and the hallway opened up into a luxurious indoor forest of bamboo. 

Tommy laughed. “Fucker.”

“That too. All I know is that they are interested in having us-“

“You,” Tommy put in automatically. Adam ignored him, as usual. Tommy thought he heard Jeffry snort behind them. “Don’t help,” he said over his shoulder. Jeffry laughed but kept silent. 

“They want us to play at their venue in Finland.”

“I thought everything was booked up already.”

Adam wiggled his hand in the air as if to say sort of, kind of, maybe. “There’s enough give in the schedule to slip another date in here and there. And they are offering to cover all the costs without cutting us out of too much of the gate fees-“

“So you’re more than happy to meet them and discuss options.”

“Exactly. And since they want to meet us both…”

“I get free sushi.” Tommy grinned. 

Adam chuckled and tugged Tommy closer. “Yes dear, you get free sushi. Just play nice.”

The host led them to a private room with dark wood panels and rich purple on the walls, chairs, and flowing down the table in layers of soft fabric. As they stepped inside Janice and Jeffry took up positions outside the room while Adam’s newest handler, Paul, and two very blonde people stood to great them. 

“Adam, Tommy, I’d like to introduce you to Sauli and Säana Koskinen, the new owners of Tavastia Klubi in Helsinki.”

Tommy looked at Sauli and Säana and felt a shiver crawl up his spine. There was something unusual about the two of them. It wasn’t a bad feeling per se, and it wasn’t just the halo of light that seemed to flicker around them. It was more like being wrapped in the memory of a place he always wished he’d visited or a song he could never quite name. 

“Päivää,”Sauli said with a tip of his head. 

Adam stepped forward, hand outstretched. “Säana, Sauli, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” 

As Adam and Sauli’s hands came together a ripple of colored light sparked between them. The light spread to blanket Sauli and Säana. It transformed them; revealing animal shapes in a shimmering overlay of light and color. Sauli’s was the brighter of the two but they were both dazzling. They each had snow-white fur and small pointed heads, much like Tommy’s own kitsune. And each had long, thick tails that twisted and curled around them sending ripples of blue, green and red light dancing through the air. 

Adam blinked; looked over at Tommy and then back to Sauli. Sauli smiled and nodded his head. 

Adam coughed and pulled slowly away. There was a long pause and then Paul gestured to the table. 

“Shall we sit down?”

“Paul?” Adam called gently. 

Paul stepped close to Adam. “Hmm?”

Adam looked back at Sauli and Säana, took a breath and let it out slowly. He turned back to Paul with a blank look. “I just remembered that I left my tablet back at the hotel. Can you take the car back and get it for me?”

“Can’t it wait?”

Adam shook his head. “Not if we want to formalize details with the Koskinens.”

Paul’s forehead scrunched up in what Tommy and Isaac had taken to calling Paul’s “Adam’s being strange again” face, but nodded his head in agreement and then turned to Sauli and Säana. “My apologies, there’s a bit of business I need to attend to. I’ll be back shortly.”

Sauli and Säana both smiled politely and nodded their heads. 

“Of course, Paul,” Sauli said with a slight smile. “Don’t worry about us. I’m certain that Adam and Tommy will be excellent dinner company.”

Paul looked at each of them for a moment. It was clear that he knew Adam was getting him out of the way, but not why. 

“Well then, I’ll leave you to get started.” Paul nodded and left the room. 

As soon as Paul was out of sight the door opened and Janice entered, one hand on her daggers and a snarl on her lips. Tommy could feel her cat trying to push through her skin and fill the room. Behind her Jeffry blocked the door. His hands were at his sides. He looked totally relaxed and his wolf felt alert but calm, just watching and cataloguing everything around them. 

Sauli and Säana didn’t move but Tommy could just make out their foxes under their surface calm. The foxes were straining toward each other, trying to pull their human forms closer to one another. They were nervous. More so than Tommy would have expected. 

“Who are you, really?” Adam shifted his stance and Tommy felt Adam’s wolf rising to the surface.

“I am Sauli Koskinen and this is my sister Säana. I promise, that much is true.”

“And you’re both foxes?” Adam asked. Tommy felt a bubble of laughter at the back of his throat and fought it down. 

Sauli smiled and his tail flicked up, dusting the air around him with colored light. “Yes. In the homeland, we are known as Revontulet. You would say _spirit fox_.”

“ _Fox fire,_ ” Säana put in with a teasing smile and swirl of color from her own tail. The room lit up with waves of yellow, green and blue light ribbons.

Without thinking, Tommy reached out to touch the light dancing around him. It sparkled where his fingers moved through the bands, tickling his skin. “It’s beautiful. Like those auroras people are always going on about in Alaska.”

“Yes, exactly,” Sauli said, his face bright with joy. 

“Very pretty,” Adam said, and his cautious tone brought them all back to the matter at hand. “And the rest?”

The light around Sauli and Säana faded and the image of their foxes melted away, into, around their bodies, maybe – Tommy wasn’t sure exactly where they went; only that he blinked and they vanished. 

“A way to arrange a meeting with you both without causing alarm.”

“Excuse me?” Janice put in taking another step into the room. Adam held up a hand and she settled, waiting and watching at his back. 

“Would you have welcomed us if we had presented ourselves to you without an introduction?” Säana asked, pulling her eyes away from Janice. 

Adam stared at her and then said, “No. You would have been stopped at the edge of our territory before you could get within striking distance of either of us.”

“As I said, an efficient way to meet with you,” Sauli said. “And even now you have sent your human attendant away until you can be certain that we are not a threat to you or yours.”

“Huh,” Tommy said. “You’re a perceptive fucker aren’t you?”

“Tommy!” Adam barked. Sauli just grinned.

“Am I wrong?”

Adam sighed. “No.”

“Perhaps-“ Sauli began and then stopped. He looked at his sister. She tilted her head and it looked like they might be talking to each other, kind of like how Tommy and Adam could speak to each other when they shifted. 

Säana smiled and nodded her head. “Kyllä. Tehdään niin.”

“Hyvä on,” Sauli said. He kissed Säana’s hands and then let her go. “Hyvä on,” he said again, more to himself it seemed than to the rest of them. Finally he looked up at Tommy and then Adam. “Perhaps we should enjoy our dinner? Säana and I can explain our purpose to you while we eat, yes?”

Adam studied Sauli for a moment then nodded and waved a hand at the table. He turned to Janice. 

“It’s okay, we’ll be fine from here.”

Janice shook her head. “I understand that you believe that, but Jimmy would have me stripped of my lodge affiliation if I left you unattended at this point.”

Adam sighed. “Okay, just…” he waved at the wall beside the door. “Just stand there and listen, but not both of you.” 

Janice tipped her head toward Adam and settled into a parade rest kind of stance. Jeffry scanned the room once more, nodded to Adam and then Tommy and stepped into the hallway. Tommy noticed that Jeffry left the door open just a crack. It wasn’t enough for the other patrons to hear them, but it would be enough for Jeffry to keep on top of what happened inside. 

Adam pulled out Tommy’s chair and growled softly, cutting off the snarky comment that Tommy usually gave Adam when he went all alpha-bossy-protective on Tommy. Knowing that Adam had every reason to feel unsettled and protective, Tommy took his seat, and Adam’s fussing, without comment. 

Jeffry let a waitress in. She was elegantly dressed and pretty with her black hair swept back and held in place with something shiny and long like chopsticks, only metal. As she began serving them tea another server came in with bowls of soup. The two bowed their way out of the room once everything was set. 

“You said you wanted to speak with us- both of us. Why?” Adam asked after everyone had had a taste of the first course. He put his hand on the back of Tommy’s chair and glanced between Sauli and Säana. 

Sauli nodded. “We did.” Sauli turned to Säana, who nodded, and then back to Adam, “We have information to share with you that we suspect you have been looking for.”

Adam stiffened, his fingers brushing Tommy’s back in a nervous gesture of comfort and need. “Continue.”

Sauli fiddled with the flatware in front of him, finally looking back up at Tommy when Säana touched his arm. “Have you heard from your family recently?”

“I got a letter from the guy who knocked up my mother. He _invited_ me home.” Tommy rolled his eyes in disgust. His so-called dad was a piece of work and a fool if he thought that shit was going to work with him.

Säana spoke as Sauli muttered something in Finish. It didn’t sound pleased or nice, but Tommy didn’t know who it was directed at. “There was an accident,” Sauli snorted but Säana kept talking. “An incident, that appears as an accident, though there are some who doubt.”

“What happened?” Adam asked. 

Sauli dipped his head. “Your uncle, aunt and several cousins were killed.”

“Uncle? Aunt?” Tommy was confused. “I don’t have them, or any cousins. My mother was an only child and I haven’t seen the B- her in years.”

Sauli shook his head. “Not your human family, your Kitsune family.”

Tommy stared at him. “I don’t have-“ Confusion gave way to anger. 

Adam put a restraining hand on Tommy’s arm but Tommy was in no mood to be placated. He pulled his arm away and pushed his chair back. “That jackass wanted nothing to do with me for 30 fucking years and now, _now_ he thinks he can meddle in my life?”

“Tommy-“

“Fuck him!”

“Please,” Säana said, her hand outstretched, the white fur of her fox nearly breaking free of her hold on the magic. Tommy’s kitsune responded in kind, straining against Tommy’s control and urging him to listen to Säana. 

“I know this has to be hard. Well, no, I have no idea what it must be like to be abandoned as you were. But please, hear us out. It’s important.”

Tommy ran a hand over his face. Being with Adam had taught him that information was always a good thing. And listening didn’t commit him to anything. He sent a thought of calm and comfort to his kitsune, a mental brushing of his own fur and the magic settled back into place. He took a deep breath and pulled his chair back toward the table. If it was a little closer to Adam’s than it had been before, no one commented. Adam gripped the back of Tommy’s neck just tight enough to let Tommy know he was there and not going anywhere. It helped calm the chaos in Tommy’s gut. He nodded and slid his hand along Adam’s thigh. 

“Go on,” Adam said. 

“Your father couldn’t-” Säana began then shook her head. “No. He chose not to acknowledge you, because- well-“

“He’s a four-tailed bastard?” Sauli raised an eyebrow but didn’t look up. It was the first time he’d cursed in front of them. Somehow that made Tommy warm up to him a little. 

Säana coughed. “He has been called that.”

“For good reason.”

“Sauli- Toi ei auta yhtään,” Säana said to her brother with a scowl. 

“He has a right to know what kind of person his father is.”

“You can explain that to Tommy later.” Säana stared at Sauli. He glared and then waved his hand at her. “Thank you,” she said softly. 

“I’m sorry,” Säana said, looking first to Tommy and then to Adam. “Prince Yoshirou is a difficult man. Until recently his behavior wasn’t much of an issue to the court, but with this accident-“

“Wait- Prince?”

Säana nodded. 

“My sperm donor was a prince?” Tommy snorted, this whole thing was ridiculous. “Get outta town.”

Sauli’s lips quirked up in a rueful smile. “Yes. And Yoshi makes certain everyone knows it too.”

Säana shook her head. “Your grandmother has tried to change his behavior, but- .”

“Grandmother?” Tommy sputtered.

Säana and Sauli nodded together and Sauli snorted. “The Lady Honoka has never been pleased with her youngest son.”

“After the accident,” Säana went on, “Your father became heir to the Jasmine Throne. Because of this, your grandmother has decreed that he must name an heir. The Prince has had several – liaisons -resulting in children. You, Thomas Daiki are his only living child.”

Tommy laughed, thinking he should start looking for hidden cameras, then he felt his kitsune preen, pleased in a way he had never felt it before. The name _Daiki_ echoed between them. Tommy shivered. “No way.”

Säana nodded. 

“Tough shit,” Tommy said, pushing back against his kitsune’s joy. The fox yowled and dropped its ears in distress but Tommy wouldn’t, couldn’t, listen. “He cut me out. They all did. I don’t owe them anything.”

“Lady Honoka doesn’t see it that way. She has insisted that you must go home and…” Säana paused, her eyes looking everywhere but at Tommy and Adam. 

“And, what?” Adam stroked a hand along Tommy’s arm. When Tommy looked over at him, Adam’s lips quirked up in a shadow of a smile but Tommy could see a million thoughts racing behind Adam’s blue-grey eyes, none of them happy. 

Säana blushed. Sauli placed a hand over hers. He whispered something to her and she shrugged then gave him a shaky smile. 

Sauli looked back to Tommy. “You must marry and produce an heir to ensure the safety and integrity of the throne.”

“Excuse me?”

“Tommy’s taken,” Adam growled, more wolf than human. 

Sauli shook his head. “The Lady Honoka does not recognize your bond.”

“What?” Tommy shouted, bursting out of his chair. Sauli held up a hand. Adam gripped Tommy’s arm and dragged him back down into his seat. 

Sauli took a deep breath. “I’m sorry.”

“We can adopt a child,” Adam said, his voice dangerously quiet. 

“It’s not that you are male, Adam,” Sauli said. “The Lady does not believe that werewolves and kitsune are… compatible.”

“Seriously? What the fuck does that even mean?” Tommy asked, his kitsune shaking with conflicting needs and wants. It wanted them to be part of the _family_. It needed the home den, needed to be sheltered by its own kind. It also needed Adam and the pack. 

“There has never been a successful mating between a kitsune and a werewolf. And frankly, while they won’t say it in public, everyone knows that the House of Jasmine has a very low opinion of werewolves.”

“I don’t give a fuck what some trumped up… person… in some faraway place thinks about werewolves. Adam is my mate and I am his.”

“Your grandmother does not agree. The court does not acknowledge Adam’s claim upon you. Rumor is that he will be allowed to participate in the Choosing ritual out of deference to your obvious affection for him.”

“This is ridiculous,” Tommy said, pushing away from Adam and out of his chair. He started for the door, needing space, needing something real and not this bullshit being spewed at him. Adam grabbed his arm and held him back. Tommy looked over his shoulder. There was pain in Adam’s eyes but his face was calm. Their animals were straining towards each other, pushing to be released so that they could comfort one another. 

“Stay,” Adam whispered. 

Tommy pushed his free hand through his hair and willed his heart to slow down. Adam squeezed his arm and begged Tommy with his eyes. There was no way Tommy could resist that or Adam’s wolf. He let Adam draw him close and settle him back in his chair. Tommy crossed his arms over his chest and glared across the table. He was done with talking. 

“What do you get out of telling us all of this?” Adam asked. He’d put an arm on the back of Tommy’s chair, his fingers just lightly touching Tommy’s neck. It was enough to help Tommy ground but not enough to make him feel trapped or coddled. 

“We hope that you will consider Säana for your wife,” Sauli said. Tommy huffed out a breath, sending his fringe up and off his forehead. Säana was pretty enough, but she wasn’t Adam. 

“Why? Why choose her and not one of the other crazy people who have been tossing themselves and their daughters at Tommy?”

“If it’s true that kitsune and werewolves cannot produce viable heirs,” Säana said softly, “Tommy will need to join with someone who can help him with that.” 

“As a Revontulet, one who is also a fox of magical origin,” Sauli continued when Säana paused. “There is every reason to believe that she and Tommy could produce an heir that would live and thrive.”

Tommy shook his head and she must have seen the motion because Säana directed her next words directly to Tommy. “Tommy, I’m so sorry. I know that you don’t want this. None of us do.”

Tommy raised his head and looked at Säana through the shield of his fringe. He wasn’t hiding damn it, but this was all a hell of a lot to take. “What’d you mean? None of you? Don’t you get to be a princess out of all of this?”

“All of the magical households, royal or not, are pressuring their daughters into attending the Choosing. If we don’t go…” Säana stopped and looked at her brother. Sauli squeezed her hand. Tommy could feel the fear and sorrow radiating off them. 

“No. No way. Tell me they aren’t killing you girls.”

Sauli looked down to where his fingers and Säana’s were entwined on the table. “Some. Others have banished the few who have stepped out of line.”

“Why?” Adam asked, horror in his voice.

“The Jasmine throne is the strongest of all the magical families. To align with them is to ensure the health and safety of your people for generations to come.”

This was crazy. Tommy was a nobody. A musician from LA and here were people killing their kids over him. What the fuck? “So,” Tommy cleared his throat. “So, the summons I got last week from my father is because of all of this? He’s demanding I come home to get married. For him. And his stupid family.”

Säana nodded. 

“I can’t do this right now,” Tommy said with a shake of his head. 

“Of course,” Säana said, her voice so quiet Tommy almost didn’t hear her. The light around the siblings went out and Tommy found that he missed it and the expressiveness that had brought such life to both of them. Säana looked painfully sad but like she was desperate to hide it at the same time. She looked like she’d lost something. A last hope or a last chance. Tommy’s kitsune tried to bark in sympathy. _Shit._

“I don’t mean no,” Tommy said. “I just… I don’t know. I just- I can’t make any decisions right now. Okay?” He looked at Säana and willed her to understand. 

Säana brushed a hand across her face. When she nodded Tommy could have sworn he saw the sheen of moisture in her eyes. 

“We’ll talk about this more tomorrow,” Adam said. 

Sauli and Säana nodded. “Tomorrow,” Sauli agreed.

~~*~~

The room was dark and quiet except for Tommy’s guitar and even that was soft and sad. He’d been playing, fingers wandering over the strings and frets aimlessly, looking for answers. When he found none, Tommy settled for letting the music and the familiar feel of his guitar against his skin, soothe him. If he couldn’t sleep, he could at least search for something close to calm.

He was so lost in his own head that Tommy didn’t hear Adam’s voice gliding up and around his notes. When he finally heard him, Tommy looked up and smiled. Adam was naked, bare of everything. No rings, no makeup. Just freckles and a soft smile and his hair a mess of angles and an errant curl over one ear. 

Tommy let his notes trail off, the last chords blending sweetly with Adam’s voice. 

“Come ’ere,” Tommy said into the quiet that followed. Adam paced forward and folded himself down beside Tommy with artless grace. Tommy leaned against Adam and held on, listening to him breathe, pulling in the scent of him. Strong fingers drew him up into Adam’s lap and they sat there, Adam’s arms holding Tommy close, and watched the sun peak over the horizon. 

“I don’t want to lose you,” Tommy said after a while. 

Adam kissed the top of Tommy’s head then rested his cheek there, silent still. 

“I can’t handle that. I can’t walk away from you or the pack or the clan.” 

“I know,” Adam whispered. 

“What are we going to do?”

Adam was silent for a long while. Tommy felt Adam’s wolf rise up to the edges of their awareness and felt protection and understanding radiate from both Adam and his wolf. Together they wrapped Tommy and his kitsune in their love and rocked them gently. 

“I think,” Adam said, “that we need to talk to Sauli and Säana again, and Neil-- he’s got more magical lore stored in his head than anyone I know. Maybe between the five of us we can figure out an answer.”

Tommy bit his bottom lip but nodded. 

“I’ll have Brian and Jimmy join us too. They’re gonna need to know what’s going on no matter what you decide. 

“We-,” Tommy insisted. He twisted around so he could look Adam in the face. “What we decide.”

Adam leaned forward and kissed him softly, just a press of his lips to Tommy’s, and then whispered, “Okay.”


	5. Chapter Four – Choices

_“If you find yourself at loose ends on a Friday night, a quick scan of network and cable television will reveal a plethora of shows that include werewolves as main characters, werewolf plot lines, werewolf politics and even, yes, were-porn. It seems that everywhere we turn these days, werewolves are the new Hot Thing. With Patricia Triatovo’s Oscar nomination this month for “Barely Human” and the crowning of Adam Lambert as the American Idol three years ago, we even have were-celebrities. But ask nearly any American over the age of 75 about werewolves and they will likely tell you that ‘werewolves are evil, vicious creatures who should be shot on sight’. The Civil Rights movement that won weres legal rights as U.S. citizens is still fresh in old eyes. And while the Shifter Rebellion ended more than 150 years ago, it is still described in most text books as a bloody conflict that took too many human lives. So what’s changed? Why are weres so popular today and how integrated are they really into human society?”_  
\- “Werewolves Among Us" published in _The New Yorker_ , April 2011  
By Stephen Albrighte, 

Voices swirled around Tommy like ants on flesh or rats running from a fire. He knew that wasn’t fair, they were all just trying to help. It was just that all the talking was making Tommy feel more trapped than he ever had. It made him wish he’d never met Adam and dragged him into all this shit. And that made Tommy’s heart want to crack in two.

They’d been talking for hours-- well everyone else had been talking-- Tommy’d been listening while they’d gone over every little damn detail, from Tommy’s semi-illustrious birth and his stupidly royal family to the letter he got from Daddy-dearest and the ridiculous gifts from crazy people. As soon as Neil, on speaker phone from LA, had started explaining the magical history of each item and group involved, Tommy had pushed out of his chair and stalked to the bar. There was no way he was going to be able to deal with all that shit without a whole lot of alcohol. 

By his second beer, Neil and Brian had gotten into a discussion with Jimmy about how to keep the tour on schedule and still get Tommy to the weird magical gateway thing that was the entrance to “kitsune-land” or whatever the fuck it was called. 

Beer three was gone in nothing flat and Tommy had seriously been contemplating cracking open a bottle of Jack while Säana explained what she knew about the freaking Choosing ritual. The only reason Tommy had put the JD down unopened was because Adam had scowled at him from across the room. As though Adam wasn’t thinking about getting into the fucking Petron. Whatever. Tommy had glared at his empty beer bottle as Säana told them how the ritual would require blood from all of the candidates and once combined with Tommy’s in some kind of magical soup it would go ding and pop out his ideal mate. Which wouldn’t be Adam. Which was fucking bullshit. 

“Why not just tell them to fuck off?” Terrance had asked at one point, giving voice to Tommy’s own thoughts. 

“They won’t stop,” Sauli had said and Tommy heard panic in his voice. “They’ll keep coming after Tommy. She won't stop. She's proven that.”

Adam sat forward. “So you’re saying that we have no choice but to meet her on her terms?” 

“I don’t know what to tell you,” Sauli said. “We are a small community; we don’t have the strength to fight her.”

“But you might,” Säana said looking at Adam. “’Weres are not something the Lady knows how to predict. She doesn’t understand you.”

“Doesn’t trust us or like us, you mean,” Brian snarled. 

“No, she doesn’t,” Säana said. “You are too human for her.” 

After that Tommy had opened the Jack. He’d poured himself a glass, then a second one for Adam when he’d appeared at Tommy’s side. Tommy had downed half the glass in one gulp and then shut his ears and found his way back to the window and the stillness of the waters of Vancouver Harbor and the lights of the Esplanade beyond. 

Tommy was sulking and he knew it, but damn it what the hell else was he supposed to do while the people he finally felt safe enough to call family discussed how to get him to a freaking palace. 

Tommy came out of his thoughts when they started talking about who would go with him. He wasn’t going anywhere without Adam. They could send whoever else they wanted, but that was Tommy’s one absolute. With that agreed upon Tommy had let them to discuss gateways and entry points or some shit.

They’d talked about everything but how Tommy was going to live without Adam. 

Tommy pressed his fingers to the window as hard as he could, trying to reach the streets of downtown Vancouver, or a miracle, or something. The sun was low in the sky painting the dome of the BC Place stadium gold and pink. Vancouver was beautiful in the way that L.A. wasn’t, all cool water and lush trees. It was so far removed from the black hole in his chest that he wanted to scream. 

He was so fucking sick of talking. And thinking. And crying. He scrubbed his eyes with his knuckles trying to push the tears away. He’d had no word from either of his so-called parents for years, and now he had more “family” than he knew what to do with or god damn well wanted. And everyone wanted a piece of him. Life had been so much easier when he was just a fuck up, no-nothing, outcast of a freak. He’d had his music and then he’d found Adam and a new family. A real family. Why the fuck did any of that have to change? 

“Tommy?” Adam’s voice broke through the coiling snakes in Tommy’s brain. He turned from the window and back to reality.

Adam was standing with one hand outstretched, longing and confusion on his beautiful face. He must have called Tommy more than once then. Tommy ran his hands over his face and into his hair. He just wanted all of this over. 

Straightening his shoulders and sucking in a, theoretically, calming breath, Tommy looked around the room. The band was there and Jimmy with the security people from both packs. Even Steven, Adam’s PA was there, sitting at the suite’s massive dining table typing away on his laptop. Sauli and Säana were in one corner, an island not yet connected to the whole. Sauli hovered over his sister, the shadows under his eyes speaking more clearly than any words about how difficult this whole thing was for him. 

It sucked for all of them. 

He squeezed his eyes shut and wished one last time that he could just fucking run away - take Adam and shift and run until they ran out of land and had to swim or fly or whatever, just not be here in the middle of all of this shit. He took a deep breath. Running was not the answer. He knew that. He’d done it all his life until he’d met Adam. Adam had taught Tommy the value of standing still, of holding your ground and not letting go of what you loved. 

Time for Tommy to man up then. 

He opened his eyes and looked right at Adam. He took a step forward, stepping into the smell and warmth of **Mate**.

“Tommy?” Adam asked, worry clear in his voice and his eyes. 

“Trust me?”

Tears formed in the corners of Adam’s eyes and his hands shook but he nodded, kissed Tommy gently on the lips and said, “Always.”

The look on Adam’s face took Tommy’s breath away. Adam was completely open, everything he felt shining in his eyes and through his wolf to Tommy and his kitsune. _Mate,_ Adam’s mind voice whispered. 

Tommy pressed his lips to Adam’s cheek. “Thank you.” He squeezed Adam’s shoulder and stepped aside to face the rest of the room. “I need to talk to Säana.”

Several people started talking at once, tossing questions and objections at him but Tommy shook his head. “The Choosing affects Säana’s life and mine the most. She and I have to talk. Alone. When we’re done, I’ll let you know what I want to do about all of this.” Tommy waved his hand in the air in front of him. He meant the room filled with people who cared about him and the bullshit with his family and all the other crap that had built up over the last few months. But mostly he meant him and Adam. 

“Are you sure?” Adam asked, one hand on Tommy’s shoulder. Tommy nodded his head but didn’t turn around. He couldn’t look at Adam, not now, not when he was about to throw away everything he and Adam had built because of a crazy lady he didn’t even know. 

Adam’s hand dropped away. Between them, Tommy could feel Adam’s wolf prowling, wanting out, wanting to reach Tommy. 

Across the room, Brian nodded once then herded everyone out of the suite. 

The door clicked shut leaving Tommy and Säana staring at each other. Tommy walked to the bar and pulled a PBR out of the mini fridge and held it up to Säana. “Want something?”

She looked at him a moment, opened her mouth as if to say something then stopped. She looked down at her hands in her lap. Tommy saw her head bob and her lips move then she looked at him and said, “Is there vodka?”

Tommy laughed. “If there isn’t I’ll make room service bring us some.”

Säana smiled. 

There was no vodka on the shelf under the bar. On a hunch, Tommy looked in the freezer of the mini fridge. “Awesome!” he pulled out a bottle of Sky and raised it up to show Säana. 

“That’ll do.”

“At least they knew to chill the shit.” Tommy poured a double shot and handed Säana the glass. 

“True,” she said, tapping her glass to his beer can. “To the wisdom of the hotel staff.”

“And wise choices,” Tommy said and then kinda wished he hadn’t. 

“Indeed.” 

They looked at each other over their drinks. The silence stretched between them, filling the room and digging into Tommy’s gut. “Man up, asshole,” Tommy growled under his breath. He saw Säana grin at him around a big gulp of vodka. 

“So,” Tommy said. 

“So.”

“Shit. This was a hell of a lot easier in my head.”

Säana smiled. 

This talking crap was so not Tommy’s strong point. **Dammit.** “What do you want?” he blurted out finally. “I mean- for yourself. From me. From any of this?” Tommy looked down at his beer feeling very small and lost. “Do you even want to be married? To me, I mean.” 

“Tommy-“ He felt Säana touch his arm and he turned to look at her. She appeared surprisingly calm. “I was raised knowing that my mate would be chosen for me, that it would be a political match. If I loved my mate once we were bonded, that would be a gift. But I’ve known all my life that I had very little choice in this matter.”

“I don’t understand that. How can you just accept that?”

Säana shrugged her shoulders. “Ours is an old people. The Revontulet have been playing in the snows of the Arctic Circle since before humans learned to herd the reindeer. But old doesn’t mean strong. My family is small. We carry a great magic but it’s not as powerful as the other shifters and magical folk. We need all the alliances we can make.

“My mother taught me the history of the Revontulet and the Saami and of the Vikings who came north and settled in our land. She and my father taught me to listen and watch everything so that I could hope to make wise judgments when it was my turn to lead, in our lands or someone else’s.”

She paused and looked at the glass in her hand. Tommy wondered what she saw there in the remains of her drink. 

“My choice,” Säana said, her voice soft but strong, “has always been my people.” She looked at Tommy. “Joining with you, if the ritual chooses me - if you choose me - will protect them for generations to come. What other choice is there?”

Tommy let out a gust of air. “I don’t even- Säana, I –“ He ground to a halt. This was so far over his head. “You sound like Adam,” he said finally. “He talks about his pack and the clan the same way. There’s nothing, not even music, that’s more important than their safety.”

“So you understand.”

“Not a bit. But I’ve been learning.” He passed his empty beer can back and forth between his fingers trying to see the path through the noise in his head. “I was an outcast until I met Adam and even then, I hid my true self from him for-fucking-ever.” Säana smiled. “Yeah, that was never gonna work, but what the hell did I know? Yaknow?”

Säana chuckled. “Yes, he sees everything, your Adam.”

That broke something inside Tommy. “I love him. He’s my mate. I can’t just walk away from that. I can’t. I won’t.”

“I know.”

“I don’t know what the fuck to do.” 

He dropped his head into his hands and fought back tears of frustration. He heard Säana pick up the Sky bottle. He tilted his head to watch her. She poured a shot, the bottle’s cobalt blue glass shining in the lights, tossed it back and poured another one. Tommy’s eyebrows crept up to his hair line, but he kept quiet, Säana was clearly thinking about something. She looked over at him, her bottom lip going white under the pressure of her teeth. He realized in that moment how beautiful she was. He’d been so lost in the bullshit of “family” and “royal” that he’d never really let himself look at her. She was just about his height, with white blonde hair and startlingly pale blue eyes. She wasn’t tiny- she had muscles and curves and breasts that would fit nicely in his hands – if he ever got that far. She was nothing like the women he’d dated in the past and so far from Adam it was almost funny, but there was something about her, something enticing, something that made him **want**.

Säana looked over at Tommy and her eyes caught his. He could feel her leaning toward him, her fox and his longing to twine around each other and scent the room with their delight. 

“I wouldn’t be unhappy bonded to you.” Säana’s voice was breathy and strained. 

“I want - my kitsune wants - to curl up with you and never leave,” Tommy admitted. 

Säana nodded, her tongue sliding out to wet her lips. Tommy found himself wondering what she would taste like. She was so close he could almost- “I need Adam,” he whispered, his heart torn into a billion pieces. 

“I know.” 

She didn’t stop him when Tommy closed the distance between them and let himself taste her lips. She sighed softly and let him slip his tongue inside her mouth to get lost in the warmth he found there. She fit in his arms perfectly, like they were made for each other. Kissing her was heaven and hell wrapped in bliss and he didn’t want to stop. He pressed deeper into her mouth, reaching for every bit of her he could find and taste and take into himself. Säana’s hands came up around his shoulders, nails digging into his skin before her fingers moved up to slide into his hair. She pulled him closer and he was gone, lost in her smell and taste and feel. Their foxes coiled around each other, ghosting across their skin. They scented each other and yipped in pleasure. 

“I can’t do this.” Tommy pushed Säana away, hating each inch that came between them. “I –“

“Shh, I know,” She said, nipping at his chin. He closed his eyes and fought his instincts to just **take**. “I know you need him. You need each other. I can feel it when he’s in the room with you, no matter where you are, his wolf finds you. He’s only content when he’s connected to you.”

“I can’t leave him-“

“Maybe-“ Säana pulled back and looked at Tommy. “Maybe you don’t have to.”

“If I marry you- if that damn ritual thing chooses you for me, then yeah, I kinda do.”

Säana shook her head. “Why?”

“What?”

“We’ve all assumed you can’t have both of us.”

“Well, yeah. I mean. Well. That’s the way it works. You get married and you’re done. That’s the person you’re with.”

“For most humans.”

“Yeah,” Tommy drew the word out so it was almost a question. 

“My mother was raised in a communal den. She has the same mother as her sisters and brother but not the same father. Grandmother actually had two husbands.”

“Two?” Tommy asked, his thoughts whirling. “Husbands?”

“Mm hmm.” Säana nodded her head. 

“So… you’re saying. Um. Like, what exactly are you saying?”

Säana giggled and her face lit up. Her eyes were sparkling with glee. A voice in the back of Tommy’s head was shouting at him, trying to warn him that she was a lot smarter and sneakier than he realized. He told the voice to shut the fuck up and leave him to his fantasies. 

“I’m saying – why can’t you have everything you want?” She shrugged, just a twitch of one shoulder, and pushed her hair back off her face. 

Tommy stared at her; with every word she yanked Tommy’s brain a little farther off balance. 

“You could have me and Adam if you wanted.”

“But that damn _family_ is insisting-“

“Yes, I know that. But who says you have to play by their rules?”

Tommy stared at her, dumbfounded. “Ummm… no one?”

“Exactly!” Her whole face lit up with excitement. “You’re the prince. You can have a wife and a consort, two or three consorts if you wanted. Or even several wives and husbands. There’s nothing, other than needing to produce an heir, which I would be happy to do, that says you have to play by other people’s rules.

“We can do the ritual and when it chooses me,” Tommy cocked an eyebrow at her assumption but she just waved that away and kept talking. “You and I can bond as foxes. If I’m right, that will have no effect on your mating bond with Adam.”

“Riiiight.”

“Werewolf,” she said as if that explained everything. 

Tommy gapped at her. “Marry you and keep Adam?”

“Why not?”

“Um…” He shrugged feeling a bit like he was drowning only this time the water was warm and inviting and promised awesomely dirty fun when he gave in. “I have no idea. I guess, I could. Yeah.” 

“Well, of course you can.”

“Of course.” Tommy laughed. Really, what else could he do? “You and me.” He waved a hand between them. “And me and Adam, You’d be okay with that?” Säana nodded. “Well shit. That might just work.”

Säana laughed and Tommy thought he heard a hint of hysteria laced through the joy. He hugged her close and held on while she shook and pretended not to cry. “We’ll make it work,” he said kissing the top of her head, just like Adam did when he was trying to be reassuring.


	6. Chapter Five – Partnership

_Point Reyes Station, April 7 – The Marshall kids, William, Jethro and Peter, were surprised Monday morning by the site of four creatures stepping out of the trees onto Pop Marshall’s farm. Three of the creatures were shifters, their furry bodies matted with dirt and leaves. The fourth was a human child. The boy, hardly older than 13, had no memory of his family, where they’d come from (as no one local remembers a boy wandering off) or how they died. The boy was able to say that he was taken in by a Shifter pack and raised as one of them. Pop Marshall spoke for everyone when he said it was a “surprising thing to see a boy with a Wolf-Man, and stranger than that, to see that Shifter traveling and being friendly with a Fox-woman and a Cat-man. Didn’t think they liked each other at all, those Shifter packs.”_

\- San Francisco Morning Call April 7, 1891

“You sure you’re okay with this?” Tommy asked again. Adam rolled his eyes, again.

“Yes, I’m sure. Would you stop worrying?” Adam stripped off his shirt and kicked off his boots. “I may be a wolf, but I’m also a man. If sharing you with Säana means I get to keep you? I can live with that. Besides, I like Säana and Sauli. I think the pack will too. “

Tommy dropped his hoodie and t-shirt onto the growing pile of their clothes. He toed off his chucks and then wriggled out of his jeans. “I just don’t want to piss you or your wolf off, yaknow?”

Adam, naked and glowing in the moonlight, stepped into Tommy’s space and tipped his head up. He kissed Tommy so softly, a sweet press of his lips to Tommy’s. “You won’t. You can’t. You’re my mate and you and Säana are offering me a way to have everything I thought I was losing.”

Tommy felt himself blush. 

“Come on, we have a moon to chase and I want some time alone with you before we meet with the others.”

Adam devoured Tommy’s mouth and then pulled away leaving Tommy breathless and floating. Adam chuckled and poked at the jeans hanging from Tommy’s hand. He pushed a strand of Tommy’s hair behind his ear and whispered, “I’ve missed the feel of your fur against mine.” 

Tommy shivered. 

Adam stepped back and Tommy watched as his muscles rippled, his bones shifted and he dropped to the ground on a howl. Night-black fur spread down Adam’s back while his hands elongated, claws flashing white in the moonlight. Adam’s belly fur ran golden down to his groin. Tommy’s fingers twitched remembering the feel of that fur, wanting to curl around it and cover himself in Adam’s scent. Adam settled back on his haunches and howled, a long call filled with joy. The sound rocked through Tommy bringing an answering call from deep in his heart. Tommy opened his mind and body to his kitsune and laughed when the fox bounded through his blood and up to the surface. Tommy’s body shifted, auburn fur covering his skin as he shrank down and his three tails spilled out in a tangle. 

Adam stalked over to Tommy and licked a long stripe over Tommy’s ears and down his neck. Tommy barked, amused. 

_Possessive much?_

Adam nipped Tommy’s neck, a pleased chuckle rumbling through his chest. 

_Mine._

Tommy pressed his head up into Adam’s muzzle. _Always._

 _Run._

_Gonna chase me?_ Tommy took a step away, his head turned back to Adam. He winked and took off. 

Adam ‘s laughter filled their link. _Run, pretty fox._

Tommy ran. The cool night air flew past his fur as he slipped through the rafts of pink and white heather that covered the foot of Mount Garibaldi. The pads of his feet touched sun-warm soil and kicked up the scent of pine and fir the closer he got to the tree line. It felt good just to run and let his legs carry him across a new landscape. 

There was a similarity here to the woods and wildlife of Southern California’s San Gabriel Mountains. Here the land was wetter and wilder, the approach to the mountains covered with an abundance of life that cut off sharply as the glaciers and volcanic peaks rose into the sky. It smelled of meadow flowers and secret places deep in the earth where no one went unless they knew the way. And so close to the sky, the approach to the peak pushed Tommy’s lungs to work harder in the thin air, but it was worth it. The feel of something so different and yet so familiar was always worth a little effort. Angeles forest was warm and dry in the summer, damp and cool in the winter, but without the snow crunching under Tommy’s paws as he raced up and away from the lake. There were more trees, more densely packed areas of living green in Angeles. On one of their first runs together, Adam had taken Tommy deep into the forest to a little known waterfall that fell over a nearly perfect half-circle of cut rock. They’d run there together on four legs and then played like kids on two legs in the water, until they’d played like adults on the sun-warmed rocks.

Tommy slowed to a walk as the trees opened up and moonlight limned the hills in silver. A colony of bats poured out of an opening somewhere in the rocks below him, filling the sky with fluttering black shapes and a buzzing-whir as they flew past. He sneezed, his nose itching with dust and a million new smells. Movement just at the edge of the next bunch of trees drew Tommy’s attention. He flicked his ears forward, their large wedge form picking up more than his human ears ever could. He stuck his nose to the ground and padded toward the shadows, every sense alert. At the edge of the trees a red squirrel balanced on its hind feet, holding a bit of something in its mouth with its front paws. Tommy grinned. The squirrel wasn’t much of a challenge for him, but it had been a long time since he’d tracked and hunted anything at all. Crouching low, Tommy worked his way toward the squirrel, ears focused on every sound it made. The squirrel froze, sniffing the air, and Tommy pounced only to be pounced on by something much larger coming out of the shadows to his right. 

_Gotcha!_ Adam crowed. _You never could resist the appetizers._

Tommy rolled and kicked at Adam’s belly but Adam just adjusted one massive front paw and pushed down, holding Tommy in place with a grin. 

_Whatever, man. Not like you’ve never gotten distracted by a rabbit or some shit._

Adam chuffed at him. _Not my fault the stupid thing got away._

Tommy laughed and collapsed under Adam, caving to his own desire to be surrounded by Adam and his wolf. He canted his head and licked at the dark fur on Adam’s neck. _Of course not._

_Shut up, brat._ Adam ran his tongue over Tommy’s ears, cleaning away the dirt and marking Tommy with his own scent. _I got the next one._

That much was true. Tommy had been the recipient of one very mangled but edible rabbit a few months after Adam had claimed him. 

_Tasty._

_Don’t say I never got you anything._ Adam grinned, his tongue hanging out of the side of his mouth, the picture of contentment. 

Tommy twisted and wiggled around until he was resting on his belly, his legs and forepaws curled close, his back warm under Adam’s comfortable weight. _I like this._ He sighed and put his head down on his paws. 

They watched an owl launch itself into the air a tree-length from them. It called into the night, hunting for dinner. The breeze picked up bringing them the smells from lower down on the mountain, heather and spruce and the faint hint of water somewhere close to the surface. 

Adam dropped his head down beside Tommy’s. _Mmm, yeah._

Tommy closed his eyes and settled into Adam’s hold. He was just starting to doze when a cluster of howls echoed across the hillside. Adam sat up and called out a response. 

_Come on, they’re waiting for us._

Adam took off running up hill. Tommy bounded after him. 

They met the others in a clearing between the fresh water of the lake and the frozen crystals of the glacier; Jimmy in his coyote form, dusky fur nearly brown under the moon, Janice all sleek tan lines of a mountain cat, Michael’s gray coat hiding the true size of his wolf and Sebastian - his black mane twisting in the breeze along his deep red coat. They were like something out of an old tale, a tribe of shifters rising up out of the earth to dance with the moon.

Terrance, Ashley, Isaac, Brian and the other members of Adam’s pack from the tech crew were hovering near the trees, uncertain without their alpha. Jeffry was running the hills on his own, free for the night to let go of the constraints of living with a pack that wasn’t his own. Jeffry was a literal lone wolf, bound to no pack and answering only to those Alphas who had earned his respect.

Adam barked a greeting to the group as he and Tommy approached. 

_Welcome,_ someone said, it was hard for Tommy to tell who, not having heard their mind voices before, but Sebastian dipped his head and stretched out one long leg. He looked for all the world like he was bowing to them. Tommy felt a wave of amusement with the same feeling and tone as the speaker- Sebastian then, laughing at him. 

_Not laughing, call it pleased. And happy you’re here._

_Ah, okay. Thanks._

A glow formed through the trees on the other side of the glade and they all turned to watch as two white foxes with tails longer than their bodies leapt into view. Green, red, and purple light spilled out behind them, shimmering along their tails and beyond. 

_Sauli, Säana, be welcome,_ Sebastian called out as he bowed to them. 

The larger of the two foxes dipped its head and a soft voice replied _Thank you._ Tommy thought it might have been Sauli, the tone was similar to his human voice. The fox looked at Tommy with a grin and winked. Tommy yipped out a laugh and settled down beside Adam. He felt safe with these people, even Säana and Sauli he realized. Everything felt good, right, like they belonged together. At his side, Adam relaxed as well, though he remained standing. 

Sebastian paced across the field to touch noses with Sauli and Säana. Whatever was said between them, Tommy couldn’t hear, but they looked satisfied and even happy when Sebastian turned and walked toward Adam and Tommy. 

Sebastian lowered his head until he was nose to nose with Adam. Tommy heard a sound like thunder and then Sebastian spoke. _The people offer this glade to you and your mate so that you may test the bonds you seek to build. We cannot promise that what is done here will sway the magic of the kitsune, but we offer what support we can. Do you accept?_

Adam dipped his head to the ground and then lifted it back up to touch Sebastian’s nose. _I accept with gratitude._

Turning, Sebastian touched his nose toward Tommy. Tommy had to push up on his hind legs to reach the massive head. When their noses touched Tommy felt a wash of warmth, as though he’d been baking in the sun for hours. It soothed his joints and nestled into his heart clearing away his doubts. 

_And you, Thomas Daiki, do you accept the protection and assistance of the Spirit Moon clan and all the clans of the Isleta?_

Tommy blinked. There was a heaviness to Sebastian's words. It carried something more than when he’d spoken to Adam. It was like he was calling some ancient magic into the circle. Tommy wanted to sink into the ground and hide. He didn’t want to be responsible for whatever this all was. 

Adam woofed softly at his side and in a very fine thread of thought between just the two of them told Tommy, _Not alone. Never alone again. We’ll do this together, you and me. The clan and us._

_Promise?_ Tommy asked, letting himself be open and honest, showing Adam all of his fear and all of his hopes. 

_Promise._

Tommy took a breath, breathing in the scent of Adam and Mate and pack that surrounded him. He used their strength to look up at Sebastian, to press his nose back against the dark coat of the massive stallion and agree. _Yes, I Thomas Joseph Daiki accept the protection and assistance of the Spirit Moon clan and all the clans of the Isleta._

Thunder rolled across the mountains and a crack of lighting split a tree beside Janice. Tommy thought he heard someone muttering about ‘damn tricksters and their jokes’. Then he forgot everything as the collected packs melted into the forest leaving Tommy and Adam alone with Sauli and Säana. 

_Well,_ Adam said slowly. _That was dramatic._

Tommy heard Sauli and Säana yip in agreement. _Maybe you could use it in your next show?_ Sauli said, then had to dance out of range as Adam loped toward him.

 _Next show, huh?_

Sauli ducked away from Adam’s teeth with a bark and a laugh, then ran toward the trees. Adam took off after him. They chased each other, tackling and bounding away in a mad scramble of limbs and dry grass. Adam’s wolf and Sauli’s fox took to each other like they’d been friends for years. 

_I guess that clarifies things._ Säana’s mind voice was filled with delight. Tommy looked away from the tumbling mass of black and white fur to see Säana sitting beside him, her long glimmering tail wrapped around her feet.

 _I guess it does,_ Tommy replied. _What about you?_

Säana cocked her head to one side, clearly confused. 

_Are you happy with all of this?_

Säana’s tail twitched up, a trail of multi-colored light following in its wake. _You make a handsome fox, but-_ Her tail flashed forward, bopping him on the nose and then she was gone, racing across the field yipping at him. _Can you catch me?_

Tommy yipped happily and took off after her. 


	7. Chapter Six -  Magic

_“Brush and ink, Instruments and music, light and shadow, pathways and steps. Each has a meaning and each a purpose and in contemplating each, they lead us to the next question.”_  
\- On the Meaning of Practice; a comprehensive study of Fox-Kin magic and magick, page 25  
By Oda no Takamochi 

“Are you sure this thing is safe?” Adam growled the words at no one and everyone. Tommy understood the feeling. All too fucking well.

They were staring at a fancy wooden gate-archway-thing hidden in the depths of the Japanese Tea Garden in San Francisco. It was pretty and cool, but how it was gonna get them from San Francisco to the palace in kitsune-land he had no fucking idea. 

“There’s just more path on the other side, how does that even work?” Tommy waved a hand at the red pillars of the gate and its ornately carved roof. 

The garden’s caretaker turned a calm face to Tommy. The man had been infuriatingly serene since the moment Tommy met him five hours and one long-ass tea ceremony ago. “The gate is a transmission point that allows members of the royal house access to the palace lands. 

“As your grandmother has claimed you officially, once you set foot on the third step, the way will be opened for you.” The guy bowed to Tommy and waved toward the gate.

“Right. We just step through and poof, we’re there?”

“In a manner of speaking.”

“Oookay.” Tommy stared at the gate. “And I get to go first?”

The guardian nodded, his face still annoyingly calm. 

“Great.” 

“What happens once we’re through?” Ashley asked, stepping up to flank Tommy between her and Adam.

“You will be met on the other side by the palace seneschal who will escort his Highness home.”

“And we can all go with Tommy?” That was Janice, who, along with Michael, had volunteered to go with Adam and Tommy to meet Tommy’s family. 

“It is expected that the prince will be escorted by no less than four guards and attendants.”

“And Adam?” Tommy asked, worried all over again that something would go wrong and they’d end up a world away from each other. “Nothing’s going to stop him from going through and coming with me, right?”

The Guardian’s features twitched and then settled into his usual calm, but now Tommy knew it was a mask. “Mr. Lambert has been granted the right of passage as a guest of yours and therefore of the House.”

“This is bull-“ Adam cut Tommy off. “Tommy, it’s okay. We’re going together. It doesn’t matter what they call me.”

Tommy dropped his head, looking at the cracks in the cement through his fringe. “It matters to me.”

“I know babe. I know.” Adam tugged Tommy to him and Tommy let himself face plant in Adam’s chest. He shut his eyes and breathed in Adam’s scent.

“Come on, let’s do this. Sooner we’re done there, the sooner we’re back on tour making music and being rock stars.”

Tommy snickered then mumbled, “Okay.”

Hand in hand, Tommy and Adam stepped up to the leading edge of the gate. Tommy paused and looked over his shoulder to the Guide. “Do I need to do anything? Or say something official?”

“Stand before the gate, speak your name and title and request entrance.” 

Tommy nodded his head slowly then turned back to Adam who was smiling in what Tommy assumed was meant to be a reassuring way but mostly made Adam look goofy. Tommy giggled and squeezed Adam’s hand, suddenly amused, instead of angry, about the whole situation. 

Tommy cleared his throat and straightened his spine. “I am Thomas Joseph Daiki, prin—“ he balked at the title. Beside him, Adam, radiating confidence, winked. Tommy tried again, forcing out the formal words the caretaker had drilled into him. “Prince of the Royal House and Prince Yoshirou’s heir to the Jasmine Throne, and I request passage to the palace.”

The gate was wide, three or four steps across even with Adam’s long legs but as the space inside the gate wavered the distance seemed to stretch out to the horizon. The plants on the far side shimmered and began to fade. A moment later the gloomy San Francisco day was gone, replaced by sunlight and a brilliant white pathway bordered by an explosion of cherry trees in full bloom.

“Wow. Okay then --” Tommy said, impressed. 

With Adam’s hand firmly clasped in his own, Tommy stepped into the gate. Nothing happened. He took another step. He felt something tugging at his skin, dragging his own magic to the surface. In the back of his thoughts he could sense his tails twitching, they were agitated, wanting out, but not because something outside himself forced the issue. Adam’s grip around his fingers clenched tight enough to hurt, claw tips cutting into Tommy’s skin. He wanted to look, to see if Adam was going through the same forced shift as he was, but he didn’t dare. 

Another step forward and the path on the other side took on definition, the shape of the stones becoming clearer. 

There was another tug, like a giant hand pulling at his clothes. A moment later the sensation stopped and was replaced with a feeling of weight on his shoulders, hanging off his arms and tangling around his legs. Tommy forced his feet forward, trying to figure out what was happening even as he worked to ignore the strangeness of it all. 

One final step and Tommy was through the gate, sunlight momentarily blinding him. He lifted his free hand to block the sun and caught a face-full of golden fabric. 

“The fuck?” Tommy said just as Adam said “Wow!” 

Tommy looked over at Adam and his jaw dropped. Adam was dressed head to toe in one of the most awesome kimonos Tommy had ever seen. It was like something out of an art gallery or a history book. Deep green and purple fabrics were embroidered with swirls of gold thread in a forest of images. Down the side Tommy could see a crane with its wings stretched wide stepping out of a wall of bamboo. 

Adam had let go of Tommy’s hand and was raising and lowering each arm, his face tilted down as he watched the fabric move. “Wow,” he said again, turning to Tommy and grinning wide. “This is cool.”

Tommy laughed. Of course Adam would like a ton of silk and embroidery. “Yeah well, you can pull it off. I probably look ridiculous.”

Adam shook his head and the cluster of tiny blue flowers nestled beside one of Adam’s black furred ears swayed, filling the air with a sweet fragrance. “Oh, babe, no. You look amazing.” 

“I feel like I’m gonna suffocate,” Tommy grumbled. He twisted, looking down and then around to his back, trying to see the details of the kimono weighing him down. Adam stopped him with a gentle hand on his shoulder. 

“Stop fidgeting. You look wonderful.”

Tommy’s tails swished around him in a huff and he could feel his ears twitching. It wasn’t often that he purposely shifted part-way into his kitsune form. It felt freaking weird. 

“It’s gorgeous,” Adam said, running his hand over the silk covering Tommy’s chest. “I’ve never seen a kimono this beautiful.” Tommy watched Adam’s fingers trail along the four – no five, different colored layers. Adam paused at the big-ass blue thing wrapped around Tommy’s waist. “You obi is beautiful.”

“My what?”

“Obi. The sash. The details are incredible.” Adam’s fingers traced the edges of something, Tommy couldn’t see what it was from his angle. “I think these are some kind of jasmine,” Adam said softly. “And a fox.” Adam smiled up at Tommy. “It’s you. Beautiful and quick.”

Tommy huffed but couldn’t stop from smiling. “What’s this?” he asked, touching something embroidered on the deep blue obi around Adam’s waist. It looked vaguely like wheat but had an odd shaggy head and was reddish brown. 

“Hmm?” Adam bent his head down. His nose scrunched. “No idea.”

“The image embroidered on Lord Lambert’s obi is of the red rice plant, ready to be harvested.”

Standing a few feet in front of them was a kitsune with a long gray beard. He was wrapped in a dark green kimono, several tails poking up over his shoulder. He bowed as soon as he finished speaking. 

“My Prince,” the guy said after he stood back up. “I am Fumio, Seneschal to the Lady Honoka and the Jasmine Throne.”

“Um, hi,” Tommy said. “So, rice?”

“Yes, my prince.”

“Is that a good thing?”

“It is my prince. In centuries past, rice was guarded by a wolf, usually one who took a strong interest in the lives of the villagers who tended the rice paddies.”

“Huh, that’s- kinda cool,” Adam said. 

“And the little blue flowers in his hair?” Tommy asked. He tried to wave a hand at Adam’s head but with the heavy fabric, he only managed to lift his arm a few inches. 

Fumio paused, dipped his head, then raised it back up. The two guys behind him twitched, almost breaking formation and then freezing in place. 

“The blue jasmine in Lord Lambert’s hair and decorating his obi is a mark of the gateway’s favor.”

“Say what?” Tommy asked. 

The seneschal paused again then stood a little straighter. “The gateway has recognized Okuri-Ōokami Lord Lambert’s claim upon you and therefore as your consort.”

Tommy raised both eyebrows in shock. He was pretty sure, given all the things Sauli and Säana had said, that this was a very good, but surprising piece of information. 

“Ōokami means wolf, doesn’t it?” Tommy asked. 

“Indeed, your highness.”

“And consort?” Adam made it both a question and a statement. 

Fumio dipped his head toward Adam. “The gate has gifted you with the kimono of Oda no Takamochi, consort to His Imperial Highness Yoritomo, six-tailed Lord of the Jasmine Throne, and beloved ancestor of our Empress, Lady Honoka.”

Tommy looked at Adam. Adam’s eyes were huge and there was a smile playing at the edges of his lips. “Um, wow,” Adam finally said. “Okay, then.”

Fumio bowed his head as if Adam had said something wise. Tommy fought back a giggle. The whole situation was insane and downright hilarious, but at least the gateway was on their side. Tommy blinked at himself. How was that even a sentence he could think? He took a breath and made himself face Fumio. “So, we can go home, right? I mean if the gateway acknowledges Adam, then we don’t need the choosing thing.”

“The Choosing ritual cannot be stopped once initiated by the head of your house,” Fumio said. 

“But, you just said- “ That was from Terrance, who Tommy had honestly forgotten was with them in all the craziness of kimonos and titles. Tommy turned to his right and his jaw dropped again. Terrance’s chest was bare except for a thick collar of multi-color stones and gold wire. At his waist was a sheer gold skirt which had to have something under it because Tommy couldn’t see Terrance’s legs, just his feet, in gold sandals, poking out under the long hem. Terrance shook his head when Tommy started to say something, his eyes never straying from the direction of Fumio. 

Fumio held up a hand. “The gateway is not the head of the Jasmine House. While I am certain the Lady Honoka will take its – opinions - into consideration, the Choosing has begun and will only end once Prince Daiki has accepted his wife to be.”

“Well shit,” Tommy said and then blushed when Fumio damn near glared at him. 

“If you will follow me,” Fumio stepped back and his aides moved in sync with him. “We will proceed to the palace.”

Tommy looked over at Adam who shrugged. Ashley, in something that looked straight out of a Disney movie about gypsies, and Janice and Michael, who were both dressed in fringed and beaded fabric, and Terrance, stood on either side and behind Tommy and Adam. 

Twitching his shoulders to settle the freakishly heavy kimono better over his back, Tommy nodded and followed Fumio. 

 

 


	8. Chapter Seven – Ceremony

_”Stand in silent reverence as the sun rises, spreads its warmth across the lands and awakens each bud with its touch. Such a moment expands into infinity and settles upon one’s heart. To be a true leader one must drink of the sorrow, pain and suffering exposed by the sun, just as the moon shows us beauty, kindness and love with its silver light. If one can understand a sunrise, one may begin to understand the path of kingship.”_  
– The art of leadership, page 323  
By Kouki Sato, 7th Jasmine Emperor

Arriving at the palace was less traumatic than Tommy had been expecting. It was still bad, just not as weird or whatever as he thought it would be. There were hundreds of people lining the roadway and flags flying everywhere in a million colors with fancy writing on them in some language Tommy didn’t recognize. It looked a little like the kanji he’d seen in Japan but with more swoops and curls. There were flowers everywhere and pale pink petals snowing down on them, filling the air with the scent of jasmine.

The whole thing was overwhelming and Tommy kept wishing he could grab hold of Adam’s hand and sink into the shadows. But even if he could have moved his arms enough to reach out to Adam, he wouldn’t have been able to touch him with Adam walking a bunch of steps behind Tommy. It sucked. Tommy hated being out front and the focus of everyone’s attention, but it turned out that being the lead guitarist and partner of a world famous rock star was good training for being flailed at along a mile of perfectly manicured roadway. 

With each step Tommy tried to remember the things Adam had told him about how to deal with this kind of stuff. The whole band knew Adam had a game face and a pap face to go with his “shit I’m tired but I still have interviews to do” face. He also had a couple of tricks for putting up walls between himself and the hysteria. Adam had tried to teach Tommy some of those meditation tricks. It hadn’t made much sense at the time but Tommy had kept at it and it had helped. It was helping now. He kept his face calm and tried to smile, though he was pretty sure he failed at that, so he tried to just not scowl at everyone. Inside, his mind was spinning like mad with all the reasons why this was a bad idea. He was amused to discover that the weight of the kimono was actually helping keep him calm. All the layers and the stiffness of the fabrics were oddly grounding. He felt kind of insulated, not just from the cool breeze but from all the enthusiasm around him. He’d never appreciated how clothes could help with that. 

A million steps later, Tommy and the others - he refused to call them his entourage, that was just not on - were standing before a long wall of white stone and weeping jasmine flowers. At the center was an enormous wooden gate. Fumio glided up to the front and, using a big ass metal knocker attached to the gate, banged three times then stood back. 

The crowd around them went silent. 

After a really long wait, the gates inched open. On the other side, and far down another long-ass walk way, a group of people stood waiting. 

Fumio bowed to Tommy and swept his hand toward the palace. “My Prince.”

“You’re doing great,” Adam whispered from behind Tommy. “Just keep breathing.” 

Tommy smiled a little at that and then, for once in his life, did as he was told and took a breath. And then another one. He was tempted to take a couple dozen more if it meant he could put off the inevitable but he figured no one would thank him for that. Instead he nodded to Adam and everyone else, and started down the stone path. 

The gates clanged shut behind them. Tommy’s tails and whiskers twitched at the sound and his ears swiveled backwards and then forward again, all his senses on high alert. 

Of course the walkway ended in another garden-like area so Tommy paused and waited for Fumio to do his thing. 

Except there were drums first. Of course there were fucking drums. Didn’t these people understand simple? Tommy heard Adam chuckle behind him. Apparently he’d said that out loud. 

“I think it’s more that they want to enjoy the moment,” Adam murmured. Tommy caught a flash of Adam’s tail twitching back and forth, black and gold fur shivering as the tail moved. 

“This is as bad as meeting a bunch of Glamberts with VIP passes.” That had to be Ashley. Janice had been spared, or knowing her had arranged to get out of, being on the security detail for any of those events. 

“Worse,” Terrance grumbled. “Much worse.” 

Tommy smiled; he had the best friends in the world. He was never ever ever letting them out of his sight. 

The drummer tossed off a roll of sound, his hands and sticks rising up high and slamming down on the massive Taiko drum in front of him. He repeated the pattern twice more then launched into a dazzlingly complex routine that took Tommy’s breath away. The guy ended with a flourish but before Tommy could possibly think that things were over, the man was joined by more than a dozen performers, each with a large drum strapped to their chest at an angle. They all paused for a moment, drum sticks raised and then they all began to play. Their autumn colored tails moved in sync with the rise and fall of their arms. The sound was astonishing and in any other situation, Tommy would have loved to sit back and listen, even spend time talking to them about their rhythms and practice. 

_They’re playing for you. Just enjoy it._ Adam’s mind voice caressed Tommy’s with a warm smile. It settled Tommy’s agitated nerves. Tommy sent a wave of gratitude back to Adam and let himself take in the music all around him. 

The drummers were joined by brown furred dancers dressed in pale pink costumes. They moved so fast, tumbling and spinning around the courtyard, tails twining and curling around them, that they seemed to be just blurs of colored energy. They ended in a burst of jasmine flowers tossed up and over Tommy. When he could see again, the dancers were kneeling in an arc at his feet. 

Fumio stepped into the center of the courtyard and bowed to the group across the yard from Tommy. “Majesty, it is my great honor to present to you, Prince Thomas Joseph Daiki, musuko Yoshirou, Prince and Heir to the Jasmine throne. Your grandson.”

Fumio backed out of the way, still bent over in a bow. The dancers and drummers slipped away and then there was nothing for Tommy to do but stare at the kitsune Empress, her seven silver-gray tails arrayed around her like a halo or something, seated on what he assumed was the Jasmine throne.

“Um,” Tommy coughed. His throat was bone dry. Another wave of love and strength flowed through him, this time from all five of the ‘weres standing with him. He cleared his throat and stepped forward. “Hello.” 

The woman, his grandmother – Tommy was having trouble thinking of her as that – raised a hand. The three tailed kitsune standing to her right bent toward her. A moment later he nodded and stepped away from the throne, toward Tommy. A human woman followed him. She was wearing a light green kimono that seemed to be a whole lot simpler than the man she was following (his was gold, gold and more gold for fuck’s sake) or the get-ups he and Adam were dressed in. 

The kitsune and the woman stopped several feet in front of Tommy. The woman’s eyes were huge in her face and shimmering with tears. It took a minute for Tommy to process the fact that he had to be looking at his mother. She’d aged. Well of course she had, he hadn’t seen her in like twenty years. But what the hell was she doing here?

“Mom?” 

His mother nodded and took a step toward him. The kitsune put his hand out to stop her. He said something quietly and she nodded then stepped back. Tommy noticed that before the man pulled his arm back, he took his mother’s hand for just a moment. 

“Daiki,” the man said with a nod. 

Tommy nodded his head. If that was his mother then this man, this kitsune, had to be his – “Father?”

“Yes.” The man paused. He looked down and Tommy thought he saw the guy’s hands twitch at his side. “Yes,” he said looking up at Tommy. “Daiki, it’s good to see you.” 

Suddenly Tommy was blindingly angry. “Good to see me? The fuck? You knock my mother up, walk away and leave us to fend for ourselves and now you’re all ‘it’s good to see you’?” Tommy stopped, too pissed-off to deal. He tossed his fringe out of his eyes. On the heels of the anger was pain. “Why? Why the hell did you leave? We weren’t good enough for you then? But now? Now you want me.”

The man actually blushed, his tails drooping behind him. 

“And you-“ He glared at his mother. “You hated everything about me when my tails turned up, but now here you are, tarted up and looking like one of them. What did he do? Buy you off?”

“Enough!” the guy growled. “You will not speak to your mother like that.”

“Excuse me?”

“Be angry with me, that’s your right. And I- I understand why. You have reason to be angry. But your mother has been through more than you can understand- “ He held up at hand fending off Tommy’s anger. “Not now at least. Later when we, when you and she have time to talk, and she can explain things to you. Let her explain. Please.” 

Tommy looked from his mother to the guy and back. His mother looked sad. “I don’t- I just don’t understand why you left.” He fought back his tears. “Why- why wasn’t I enough?”

“There is nothing I can say to you that will erase what I did. Just, please know that I am not the same being as I was then. I was foolish and arrogant. I thought because of my tails, my position, and my magic that I had a right to anything and everything I wanted. I was wrong. And I paid the price.” He bowed his head and his three auburn tails fell softly to the ground. 

Tommy stared at the guy- his father. He looked sincere; more so than he would have expected from the way Sauli and Säana had described him. There was something else different about him. Tommy couldn’t put his finger on it until Adam’s thought slipped across their link. _His tail-_

“Oh- You- what happened?” Tommy asked. 

His father didn’t look up. “I paid the price.” 

“With a tail?”

His father didn’t respond with words, but the slump of his shoulders and nod of his head were answer enough. 

“Oh.” Tommy said, shock overwhelming his own pain. “I’m sorry.”

His father looked up, a sheen of tears in his eyes. “Thank you.”

“So, Prince huh?” Tommy smirked. “That’s different.”

Tommy’s mother smiled and after a moment so did his father. 

“Yes,” his father said. “Are you ready to meet your grandmother and Empress?”

“Hell no, but let’s do it anyway.”

Adam laughed and Tommy heard the other ‘weres smothering chuckles of their own. 

Tommy’s parents turned and, with a wave of his hand, his father motioned for Tommy to walk alongside him. His mother walked behind them beside Adam. Everyone else slotted into place as they all moved across the last few yards to stand at the foot of the throne. 

“My mother, most honorable and glorious Empress of the Jasmine throne, may I present my son and heir, Prince Dai-“ Tommy was stunned when his father paused and changed his introduction. “Prince Thomas Joseph Daiki.”

Stepping off to the side, with an arm under Tommy’s mom’s arm, his father left Tommy to face his grandmother, the Lady Honoka. 

The silver-gray kitsune gazing down at him from the throne was old and tiny, but Tommy wasn’t dumb enough to think that made her weak or feeble minded. Her gray eyes were sharp as a metal pick and he knew, just staring back at her, that she didn’t miss much. Her seven silver and white tails stood unmoving, proud and tall, behind her.

Tommy waited. He managed to keep his mouth shut and just wait. And wait. And wait. He kept his eyes focused on his grandmother and tried really fucking hard not to fidget.

After an eternity, his grandmother tipped her head toward him and a glimmer of humor filled her eyes. “Your son is strong, Prince Yoshirou.”

“Yes, your majesty.”

“He is a fine heir.” At Lady Honoka’s words everyone around her let out a breath. It hit Tommy that if he’d been a bit more of a shit just then, he might have gotten out of the whole mess. 

_I doubt it._ Adam said. Tommy thought he was going to say something else but Adam stopped, literally stopped breathing and locked his mind up tight as Lady Honoka turned to look at him. Her eyes went wide and her tails twitched. 

“Fumio,” she called and the old seneschal appeared before her like magic, his head bowed low. “Your majesty?”

“Where did this-“ she waved at Adam. “This one get that robe?”

“The gate conferred its blessings upon Prince Di- Thomas Joseph Daiki and his guests.”

“The gate gave him Oda no Takamochi’s engagement kimono?”

“Yes, your majesty. All that Okuri-Ōokami Lord Lambert wears was bestowed upon him by the gate.” Fumio bowed himself out of Lady Honoka’s line of sight. 

It was clear that everyone in the courtyard was holding their breath again, waiting for Lady Honoka’s word on how to proceed in this weird situation. Tommy knew what he wanted, but that kept not being anyone else’s priority. 

“The gate has graced us with its wisdom. Welcome Okuri-Ōokami Lord Lambert, Lord and consort –“ Lady Honoka held up one tiny hand. “Consort only. It is yet to be seen if you will take the place of husband alongside Prince Daiki.” 

Tommy hid his balled up fists in the long sleeves of his kimono and bit his tongue. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Adam dip his head toward Lady Honoka.

“As you say, your majesty,” Adam said, smooth as silk. 

Lady Honoka gazed at Adam and Tommy for a moment longer then clapped her hands three times. Apparently that was the cue for everyone to bail, so Tommy and Adam followed Tommy’s parents out of the courtyard and along a set of corridors inside the palace. 

They were led through a baffling number of twists and turns down hallways decorated in so many styles it made Tommy’s eyes and mind reel. At last they stopped before a pale wooden door carved with the image of a fox and a wolf playing in a field. 

Tommy’s father waved a hand and the doors opened. 

“These were the rooms of his Imperial Highness Yoritomo and Oda no Takamochi. May they bring you as much joy and happiness as they brought our Emperor.” 

“Thank you,” Tommy said. He took a step into the room and then turned around when he realized he had no idea what to do next. “Do we- um-?”

“Rest,” Tommy’s mother said. 

“Less formal attire has been provided for you and your guests. The ceremonial robes for the Choosing will be brought to you four hours before sundown tomorrow.”

“And you? When do we get to talk?” Tommy asked looking from his mother to his father. 

“After the Choosing,” his father said. Prince Yoshiro tipped his head toward Tommy while Tommy’s mother bowed nearly in half. Then they were gone. 

“Come on,” Adam said, one hand outstretched. “Getting out of these costumes sounds like a pretty good idea right about now.”

Tommy nodded, confused and sad and oddly hungry. “Yeah. This shit weighs a ton.”

Adam laughed and squeezed Tommy’s hand in his. “Price of fame, babe, the price of fame.”


	9. Chapter Eight – Shadows

_“Legend tells of a time when evil bled into good, when what should not be, had become truth. In such a time, fox-kin believed that if courage could stand, then darkness would recede. In the moment of greatest distortion balance would restore balance.”_  
– "The Fox and the Moon”   
By Lempi Asgari's 

Tommy was tired. The kind of tired not even the blissfully hot water of a hot spring could do much about. His mind was spinning in circles and his whole body ached.

Instead of clarifying things, showing up at the palace had created more questions than Tommy had thought possible. And meeting his parents was just weird. And bittersweet. It stirred up all kinds of shit he didn’t want to be thinking about but couldn’t seem to stop poking at. He’d hated his parents for so long. Hadn’t even been able to think of either one as parents really. He couldn’t, not after what they’d done. But now, his father turned out to be a prince and his mother apparently had reasons for what she’d done. What the hell did any of that even mean? 

He was not going to cry dammit! 

Add to all of that the fact that he’d never spent so much time existing halfway between his human and kitsune forms. It had been exhausting. By the time the armload of people helping him out of his kimono had left, even his tails and whiskers ached. Tommy could have sworn that his kitsune had sighed in gratitude when he’d dismissed the magic that fed it. Tommy certainly had. 

And then to have so many people watching him all freaking day. Wanting things from him. It was more than he could handle. His first response when Terrance had suggested they all share a soak in the hot spring was to whimper and drag a hand through his hair, pulling the strands tight to keep from screaming. He loved his friends but even being around them was becoming too much. 

Of course everyone was sore and tired right along with Tommy, so he felt like shit for even thinking of telling them to go the fuck away. The whole thing made him want to cry, or hide, or get so plastered he never woke up. Since none of those options appeared to be on the table, Tommy’d nodded and slid into the hot water along with the rest of them. 

The hot spring was part of a garden at the far end of the set of rooms they’d been given. It was so large Tommy didn’t actually know where all the bits of it were. There was a covered walkway that they’d used to get to the main pool, but the rest of the garden was open to the cool night air. Tommy was pretty sure there were a slew of lights and unusual things hidden throughout the garden, it just had that feeling of magic all over it. For the moment though, the only illumination was the slivered light of the nearly full moon drifting between the clouds, and a few paper lanterns. The pool they were soaking in was actually a set of pools that cascaded from one into the next, getting smaller as they went until the last one spilled into a narrow stream that bisected the suite. 

As everyone had gotten settled in the water, Tommy had found a nook in the irregularly shaped pool and hidden in the shadow and trailing leaves of a droopy kind of evergreen. He’d hugged his arms around himself and let the others talk. 

Their voices had been soft, the conversations filled with lots of groans and moans about aching muscles and tired feet and it had still been too loud for Tommy. He’d dropped a little deeper into the spring, letting the water come up to just over his chin. 

He’d closed his eyes and done his best to shut everything out, pulling up his mental shields as well, trying to block everyone, even Adam, out of his head, just so he could have a little peace. He knew Adam was watching and worrying about him but he couldn’t deal. Not yet. Adam had caressed the outer edge of Tommy’s shields with a gentle thought that felt like understanding and acceptance. Tommy’d nodded once and squeezed his eyes shut. A moment later, Tommy’s awareness of Adam and the others had shrunk to next to nothing and he’d breathed a sigh of relief. 

After who knows how damn long, the others had declared themselves hungry and went in search of food, leaving Adam and Tommy alone. Under normal circumstances time to be with just Adam would have been epic, but in that moment it only made Tommy feel more exposed.

The sounds of the others faded away as doors closed behind them. Quiet settled around Tommy. He took a breath and rolled his shoulders. Around him the garden shifted, the energy changing, shrinking. The garden’s own curiosity seemed to retreat into the rocks and trees until all Tommy could feel was the light touch of a breeze against his skin. All he could hear were the leaves overhead and the water burbling as it flowed from one level to the next. 

Tommy sighed and dropped his head back against the stones edging the pool. Some of the tension in his stomach unwound. 

A bird called out, distant and solitary. 

Water ripple across from him and Tommy opened his eyes to watch Adam. 

Adam had his eyes closed and his head resting against the pool’s edge. His wet hair was a bottomless, shimmering black, his pale skin glowing under the shifting light. Adam’s hands skulled the water, sweeping up and out, setting off miniature waves around him. His face was relaxed for the first time all day, all week. He looked beautiful. 

Tommy closed his eyes and slid under the water, soaked his hair and rose back up, warm from head to toe. He rolled his head back and forth on his shoulders, stretching out the cricks. Finally he brought his mental shields down and looked over at Adam. 

The movement of Adam’s hands slowed to a stop, the water settling in decreasing ripples around him. Adam sank under the water, disappearing from Tommy’s sight. 

Time seemed to stretch as Tommy waited for Adam to rise back up. 

And waited. 

Fear spiked through Tommy’s veins. Images assaulted Tommy: the ground cracking and falling out beneath them, Adam being pulled away by reaching, greedy hands, of Adam dying, bleeding, dead. 

A moment later the water moved and Adam was standing in the middle of the pool, a body length from where he had gone under. Tommy reached for the edges of the spring, gripping at the hard stone and gritty sand under his fingers. 

He stared at Adam until his eyes were dry. 

“Hey-,“ Adam said not moving. “You okay?”

Tommy blinked. Adam was still there, still whole and glowing and alive. Still waiting for him.

A shift in the breeze sent goose bumps along Tommy’s skin and he hugged his arms to his chest. His brain was a mess of confused images and feelings, thoughts he couldn’t name, didn’t want to name or understand, all screaming for his attention. 

The silence stretched between them before Adam said, “You mind some company?”

Tommy shrugged. He tried to push the noise down, silence his thoughts. It wasn’t that he didn’t want Adam closer, he just couldn’t form the words, or stop clutching his hands around his arms. 

“Hey. It’s okay,” Adam whispered. He held one hand, palm out, resting on the surface of the water. Tommy shifted his eyes, watched the water drip, like blood _NO_ through Adam’s fingers. “You’re okay.”

Tommy shook his head, all the confusion rushing back in to fill the spaces he’d been trying to create. Accusations and questions, needs and fears, all of it spilling over to smother him. Words were useless, impossible things. There was no way Tommy could explain the spinning and shouting in his head that he couldn’t stop. 

He sucked in a breath that felt too thin. The air was hot and muggy, the water around him even hotter. He couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe. 

“Shhh…” Adam murmured, his hands staying in plain sight as he moved closer. Tommy watched Adam’s flingers slide up his arms, felt them wrap around his skin and squeeze gently. “Shhh, I know.” 

“Can’t-“ Tommy stopped, the words skittering away as fast as he tried to find them. “I… I c-can’t.”

“That’s fine. You don’t need to do anything right now.” Adam’s voice was soft, soothing. His hands moved down to Tommy’s fingers, stroking where Tommy was gripping his skin tight, but not tight enough. He was going to fly apart. 

“Hey, I’m here. I’ve got you.”

Adam worked Tommy’s fingers loose and interlaced them with his own. Tommy stumbled on nothing and grabbed for Adam, fear clawing at his insides, screaming to get out, to take him down, under, away. 

“Too much-“ 

“I know.” Adam tugged gently and Tommy collapsed forward against Adam’s chest. Tears were pressing against his eyes, clogging his throat, sealing his mouth shut. “It’s okay, you’re safe.”

“No. no. no.” Tommy shook in the circle of Adam’s arms, his face pressed close to Adam’s skin, inhaling his scent. He balled his fists and beat them against the wall of Adam. “Too. Much.”

“I know.” 

The damn broke behind the weight of everything pressing in on Tommy. He opened his mouth and words tumbled out between gasping breaths. “I can’t do this. I can’t. Too much. Too many people. Clawing at me. Wanting me. Demanding. I can’t. Can’t give them what they want. Lose myself. Lose you. Can’t. Can’t. Can’t.”

“Shhhh-“ Adam’s arms tightened around him. “Slow down. It’s okay. Just breathe for me.”

Tommy shook his head. “No. Noo. Nooo.”

“Yes you can.”

“No. too much. Too many. No. No.No.” Tommy felt himself shaking apart. 

“Yes,” Adam commanded and the sound cut through the chaos, gave Tommy a line to hold onto. 

“Yes,” Adam repeated and the voices in Tommy’s head retreated, just a little. 

Tommy clung to Adam. He forced his fingers to unclench and grabbed on to Adam’s shoulders. Adam kissed his forehead and down along the side of Tommy’s face; soft, sweet, reassuring breaths of air and warm lips on Tommy’s cold skin. 

“That’s it.”

Nodding, Tommy took a shaky breath and closed his eyes. In the darkness behind his lids, all of the stress of the day, all the people and their endless words rose up, pulling him into a maelstrom of fear within his head. 

“Stop it!” Tommy shouted at the voices. “Just stop! Leave me alone!”

Arms clutched at Tommy, shaking him, pulling him through water. 

“I can’t! Stop, please!” 

The shaking stopped and Adam’s voice cut through the noise in his head. “-Eyes. Open your eyes.”

Tommy squeezed his eyes shut, panic ruling his muscles. 

“Tommy. Tommy!” Adam’s voice sliced through the anxiety. “Tommy - open your eyes. Come on.”

Tommy blinked his eyes open. 

There were no crowds hovering around him. No one expecting a million things from him. He was alone, with Adam. Just Adam. 

“Adam,” Tommy whispered, trying to ground himself in reality. 

“Yeah. It’s just me, babe. No one else.” 

“They were everywhere.” The pain in his chest lessened. 

“I know. But not now. Not here.”

Tommy nodded and looked around at the garden, seeing the quiet in the sway of the tree branches overhead, feeling the stillness in the rocks encircling the pool. “Quiet.”

“Yeah.”

Tommy looked at Adam. He saw the worry in Adam’s eyes and touched one hand to Adam’s cheek. “Just us.”

Adam smiled. “Yeah, just us.”

“Adam.” Tommy pressed himself flat against Adam, needing to feel him everywhere, to know that he was safe in more than just words. _Adam._

_I’m here. I love you._

Tommy clung to Adam sobbing with relief and grief and confusion as Adam held him and crooned formless sounds in his ear. 

_I’m here,_ Adam sent softly. _Always._  
 


	10. Chapter  Nine – Ritual

_"Grove of the Beloved Kaamii is the first shrine of the People. Built over 3,000 years ago the Grove resides at the heart of a forest of trees both native to the area as well as trees once native but now extinct in all but the holy precinct. The Grove itself is made up of the Three Gates, the Path of Offerings and the Outer and Inner Circles.  
"The Path of Offerings begins on the inside of the first gate known as the Gate of the People. Every 30 yards there is a set of small shrines with offering stones, one on either side of the path. These appear along the entire length of the road from the gate to the shrine proper. The length of the road varies depending on who is approaching the shrine, what their purpose/need is, what ritual is being performed, and/or time of year. It is said that only the May’ala (head or chief) priest/ess of the shrine knows how many actual Kaamii there are total that require honoring." _

– "The book of the Grove", p. 792   
By May’ala Ekatarina MacSionnach, 25th May’ala of the Grove of the Beloved Kaamii

Tommy felt like a holiday turkey all dressed and on display waiting for people to eat him, and not in any kind of fun way.

A horde of people had shown up at the suite in the middle of the afternoon with a fuck-ton of _stuff_. They’d dragged in more fabric and makeup and crap than Adam took on tour with him. And all of it, every last fucking piece had been for Tommy. What the hell? And Tommy had seen Adam smirking, even though the bastard had sworn he wasn’t. He totally did, the fucker. This was his kind of thing, not Tommy’s. Adam lived to be fawned over and dressed up and redressed and then trying on a billion other things only to end up in some mish-mash of all of it. Or something. 

At least the thing they’d made him wear wasn’t as heavy as that kimono. Of course the reason it wasn’t was because his dress-robe-thing was made out of some sheer floaty material that swirled around his legs and tails but was stupidly tight fitted on top. Worst of all, the thing didn’t have sleeves. Tommy loved his tats but they were his. His to show or not as he choose. And most of the time, he choose not to. Plus it was cold without sleeves dammit. 

It didn’t help that Tommy was baffled by the things going on around him. 

After the crew of dressers and makeup people had finished with Tommy, Fumio had shown up to take him to the ceremony site. They’d taken an open carriage high into the mountains above the palace grounds. Once there, with Fumio in the lead once again, Tommy, Janice and Michael walked through the fading light of sunset, up a steep path to a massive stone gate. They’d waited there while the rest of the carriages unloaded. The Empress, Tommy’s parents and a ton of other folks had crowded around behind Tommy. Adam was nowhere to be seen.

Now, after an age and a half, three kitsune in stiff robes of white and green were stepping through the gate. The kitsune in the center had gray fur and six charcoal tails waving gently behind her. The other two looked younger with brown-fur and three tails each and they clearly deferred to the one in the center. 

The gray kitsune bowed to Tommy and the Empress, then raised her hands toward the sky. She spoke a bunch of words in some language Tommy didn’t understand. A moment later she lowered her hands and crouched to touch the ground. She said more words he didn’t understand and then stood up. With her hands at waist height she moved them in a circle and spoke again. 

One of the brown kitsune’s took a bunch of burning twigs and walked a circular path wafting sweet smelling smoke at everyone. Tommy had one lovely moment to wonder if he could talk them into adding some pot to the mix before the other attendant kitsune spritzed him in the face with salt water. Way to fuck up a perfectly good fantasy. He gritted his teeth and tried to look interested. It was a little too much like the stuff he’d had to sit through in catholic school. 

The lead kitsune turned toward the gate and raised her arms up. After she said a bunch more words in that strange lilting language, she and her assistants walked through the gate. 

“Follow them,” Janice whispered from behind him. 

Tommy looked over his shoulder at her. “What?”

“You need to follow her. The ritual is for you. No one can proceed until you start.”

Tommy tried valiantly to hold off rolling his eyes, and turned to follow. And promptly stopped again as the priestesses (he’d finally figured out that’s what they had to be) stopped before a small stone table. They handed him three bowls, one with honey, another with rice, and a third with oil, and mimed pouring them out onto the stone. Tommy followed their instructions as the chief priestess kitsune said a bunch of words. Then they all started walking again. 

And stopped again, and poured stuff on stone. Again. 

An eon and a million bowls of stuff later, the priestesses led Tommy past another gate, wooden this time, and into an open area between two circles of trees. They had him pour more stuff out before a table set up by the fire pit in the center of the circle. 

Just when Tommy thought he was done, a cluster of kitsune kits walked up to him with a bush in a pot. The priestess-kitsune handed him a glass with clear liquid. He was betting it was water, no way was he going to be lucky enough to get handed alcohol in this joint. The priestess pushed him toward the plant with a wave of her hand. 

“I don’t-“ Tommy shook his head. “What?”

“Pour it out for the plant,” Janice said quietly. 

“The plant?” 

“Yes.” She made a shooing motion. 

“Fine.” Tommy raised the glass up and bent his wrist. The priestess chattered at him in that strange language. He looked back at Janice for help. 

“You have to-“ Janice paused, her head tilted to the side, listening. “You have to ask that the Rose of Choosing grant you the Vision of Connection.”

“Ask the what to do what?”

Janice stepped up beside Tommy and hissed in his ear, “This is important to these people, Tommy,” 

“I know that. I just – “ Tommy glared over his shoulder at Janice. “I don’t do religion and stuff.”

Janice put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed gently. “I understand that. You just need to do this last step and then they can move on to the main work of the ceremony.”

Tommy sighed. “Okay. Fine.” He looked back at the bush. “So, explain this to me again?”

“Just raise the glass over the plant and when you pour the water, ask it, as nicely as you can, to grant you the Vision of Connection.”

“The Vision of Connection?”

Janice nodded and, with one last squeeze to his shoulder, stepped back. 

“Right,” Tommy mumbled. “Pour water, talk to plant. Sure.” He raised his arm up again and poured. “So, nice plant, I assume you’re nice, it’s not like we’ve ever met before.” He tossed his fringe out of his eyes. “Never mind. So, will you please… grant me the, ah.” He bit his lip. “Vision of… Connection.” He up-ended the cup and shook it to get the last drops out. “Please.”

Tommy waited, eyes glued to the deep green leaves of the bush. At first nothing happened and then every bud on the plant lit up like they were glowing from within. People in the circle cheered and the priestess smiled at him. 

“Okay then.” Tommy looked over his shoulder at Janice and she gave him a thumbs up.


	11. Chapter Ten - Flowers

_“In 1884 Mckennet and Asterrson detailed the link between the Indo-European words “leubh” meaning to love, like, or care for, and the Proto-Vulpes cognate “a’luva” meaning to love, to hold, to twine, and how when paired with their corresponding words “h₂ster” and “sestesa” the words bring clarity not only to each pairing, but also to the value the Proto-Vulpes placed on the phrase in both a magical and botanical context. From this understanding we are able to touch upon the importance of both the wording of the mythological stories about Love’s Star and the plants intrinsic value in contemporary Vulpine culture. “_  
\- The Philology and Mythology of Love’s Star, vol. two - Mythic Resonances in Contemporary Versipellis Psychology, p. 195  
By C. Matthew O’Neil, Director Emiratis, Dept. of Versipelology, University of California, Berkeley 

A burst of horns pulled Tommy out of his daze. He’d been sitting beside the Empress watching the way the flames in the fire pit danced over and around the wood. Even though the fire wasn’t bonfire big, between the full moon that was edging over the tree tops and the fire, they managed to light most of the wide circle. Too bad the heat didn’t spread as far. He figured the priestesses had to have done some magic thing to spread the light. It was really pretty and mesmerizing.

After the thing with the bush there had been lots of people talking. And talking. And talking. He pretty much tuned them out when he figured out he had no say in anything any of them were saying. Now as the horns sounded again, he curled his ice-cold fingers up in the heap of fabric around his lap and made himself pay attention to the commotion at the gate into the grove. 

Two women appeared in front of the gate. They might have been human, or kitsune not showing their tails, Tommy couldn’t tell from where he was, either way they were both gorgeous. One looked like she’d just stepped out of a My Favorite Geisha commercial, all white face, perfect little mouth, black hair arranged in a cloud atop her head, and wearing a dark kimono shot through with bursts of color. The other one could have won the steampunk costume award at a fan convention. She was dressed in layers of browns and greens with bits of brass wrapped around her arms, waist, and in her copper hair. Her long skirt was split on one side showing a hint of leather pants. 

Tommy was pretty sure Ashley would kill to get her hands on either outfit. He knew Adam would be drooling as soon as he got a look at them. 

“My Empress,” the Geisha began, bowing at the waist. “Most glorious Lady Honoka, wise and benevolent Jasmine Flower, honored above all to shine from the heart of our lands.”

Geisha girl straightened and Steampunk curtseyed. “We bring before you the chosen few who are radiant and strong enough to vie for the place of honor at your grandson’s side.”

Steampunk rose and the two women bowed their heads toward Tommy, “- Prince Thomas Joseph Daiki, musuko Yoshirou, Prince and Heir to the Jasmine throne.”

The two stepped to one side and turned to face the gate. A single horn rang out and the space within the gate clouded over for a moment, then cleared with a burst of light like the rising sun. Tommy sat up a little taller, grinning. Adam stood there, framed by an arch of green grass and softly swaying red rice flowers, looking amazing in black leather and peacock-blue silk.

“His eminence, Okuri-Ōokami Lord Lambert,” Steampunk announced. 

Adam stood a moment longer in the gateway and then strode forward, Ashley and Terrance just behind him, done up in matching black leather. Adam stopped just before the Empress and bowed deeply, his face calm and collected, as though this were any other formal occasion for him. He stayed bent over as they all waited for the Lady Honoka to greet him. 

The silence was broken by a single crystalline chime. Beside Tommy, one of the billions of buds on the bush opened into the darkest purple rose he’d ever seen. A moment later he was hit by the scent of cloves and honey. 

“What the-“ Tommy caught himself, shut his lips on the curse word and stared at the flower. Across from him the Empress huffed. He looked over (and up) to see her staring at the bush as well. There was a deep furrow between her eyebrows. She huffed again and turned back to Adam. 

After a very long silence that bristled with tension, Lady Honoka dipped her head toward Adam. “Be welcome, Lord Lambert.”

As Adam stood, he canted his head toward Tommy and winked. _Told you she’d love me._

Tommy fought back a snort. _Keep dreaming **Lord** Lambert._

_You wound me sir!_ Adam stepped to Tommy’s side of the dais, his eyes carefully pointed toward the gateway. 

This time Tommy did snort out loud. He could feel his grandmother look over at him and said softly, “Sorry.” To Adam he sent, _Fucker._

Adam’s response was a wave of laughter across Tommy’s thoughts. 

The horns sounded again. This time the archway filled with swirling flames. When Tommy strained to see the details, he caught movement among the colors, there were lizard like things crawling all over the arch breathing fire. 

“Her royal highness, Princess Māo yǎn shí, daughter of the House of the Golden Qilin,” Geisha-lady proclaimed. 

Māo yǎn shí dipped her head quickly. She seemed really young and looked human to Tommy. At her side was a barrel shaped man with dark hair and a flame colored beard. Behind both of them were a handful of guards and attendants all in black and red. As the princess started to move toward the throne, several of the fire things _salamanders - fire sprites_ Adam supplied, slipped down to create a long train of flames stretching out behind the girl. 

She didn’t have to wait long for Lady Honoka to recognize her. As soon as Māo yǎn shí bowed, another chime sounded in the grove and another dark purple rose opened on the bush. The Empress looked at it with a calm, almost pleased expression then spoke to the Princess. “Be welcome, daughter of Zhou Da Fa. Be welcome Zhou Da Fa, friend and wise counsellor.” 

The girl and Flame Beard dipped their heads then stepped to the other side of the throne, opposite Adam. 

_Friend and counsellor?_ Tommy grumbled at Adam. _Isn’t that what Neil would call stacking the deck?_

Adam shrugged but said nothing. Tommy refrained from pouting. Barely. 

The next candidate surprised the hell out of Tommy and from the whisper of shock he could feel from him, Adam as well. 

Allison Iraheta stood beneath the archway, now overflowing with massive green leaves, twisting vines and the most vibrant flowers Tommy had ever seen. Allison was pretty eye catching herself. Tommy’d known she was a were-jaguar, but he’d never seen her transform, even to the half-way point that everyone here seemed to insist on. She had spotted-golden fur on her ears, mixed in with her magenta hair and a long tail. Her pants- suit, ‘cause skirts were really not her thing, was black and all of the jewelry, and there was a heck of a lot of it, around her neck and on her arms, was jade. 

_Hey TJ,_ Allison sent to Tommy, her mind voice filled with amusement. 

_Hey, yourself. What the hell are you doing here?_

_Dad insisted._

Steampunk chick called out, “Her royal highness, Princess Allison Iraheta, daughter of the Taak’inal family of the B’alam.”

_Princess?_ Tommy sputtered. 

Allison grinned as she started her walk toward the throne. _Mom’s not royal but dad was too in love to care, so- poof!_

Tommy heard Adam’s huff of amusement flow between the three of them. _And you didn’t think to mention this to me, little sister?_

_Nope. Besides, you didn’t need a bigger head **big brother**_. Adam laughed. _Plus, it’s not much of a royal house. We’re pretty normal. For a bunch of jaguars._

Allison reached the dais and bowed before the Empress. There was another chime and another rose opened on the bush. Tommy was starting to see a pattern here. 

Lady Honoka looked down at her for a moment and the room went still. “Be welcome, Princess of Jaguars and beloved of wolves.”

There was a quiet gasp around the grove. 

_What?_ Tommy asked across the link to both Allison and Adam. 

Allison bent even lowered before Lady Honoka. “Thank you, Empress.”

Steampunk chick waved Allison and her guards toward Tommy’s side of the throne. Adam took her hand and she leaned a little toward him before straightening up and shaking her hair off her shoulder. She kept her hand in Adams though. 

_Would one of you please explain what just happened?_

He heard a murmur of indistinct thoughts pass between Adam and Allison then Allison sent to both of them, _Um, so… David kinda proposed to me. Before this thing came up._

Tommy chuckled. _About fucking time!_

_Yeah, well. Papa’s cool with it, so that’s good. David even asked for his permission, all formal and shit._

_Boy’s got balls, I wouldn’t wanna ask your papa for his little girl’s hand._ Adam’s amusement and love for Allison radiated through his thoughts. 

Allison bent her head, her ears twitching and her tail coiling and uncoiling like it was on speed. _Meanie. You know I love you best of all._

_What does that make me, chopped liver?_ Tommy asked sending along an image of dancing organ meat. 

_Ew!_ Allison squeaked. _Nah, just this guy Papa says I have to impress or I’ll lose my lunch money._

_I’m impressed._

_Cool, now I don’t have to marry you!_

The horns echoed through the grove again. This time there was a rumble of thunder and a crack of lighting, then two women appeared from a billow of storm clouds.

_Yeah, not gon-_ Tommy stopped mid thought as Geisha-girls’ voice cut through all conversation. 

“Vasilka, Ala of the North Mountains and Kataigida, Ala of the South Mountains, sisters of the wind and storm.”

“That’s-“ Tommy was startled into speaking out loud but he caught himself and switched to his mind voice. _That’s that crazy woman who made it hail inside the venue a couple of months ago!_

Adam nodded, and Tommy could feel all of Adam’s attention focusing in on the two new comers. 

The two Ala moved across the grove side by side, neither one giving way to the other and both looking like they wanted to strangle the other. A tangle of hot and cold winds swept through the grove with them but was stopped several feet from the throne when Lady Honoka held up one hand. The women paused mid-stride and then continued forward, the swirling storms considerably quieter and trailing behind them. 

At the foot of the dais both women bowed to the Empress who studied them for a very long time. With each passing minute the winds and rain around the Alas diminished until there was nothing but their clothes surrounding them. Neither woman moved, heads still bowed, as everyone waited. 

Finally two chimes sounded and two more roses opened wide on the bush. 

“Sisters of the wind and storm,” the Empress began, “that is more than a title. And something you would be wise to remember, least your natural tendencies give me reason to revoke your invitation.” 

Both women bowed even deeper and together said, “Yes, your majesty.”

“Then be welcome.”

Tommy tried to poke Adam again, but Adam kept his eyes and his mind turned toward the gate. Annoyed, Tommy swallowed a sigh and did his best to pay attention to the next person being announced. 

The whole thing seemed to go on forever. Tommy actually lost count of all the people that arrived. And he most definitely did not think about the fact that all of them were there to try and claim him. That was so not gonna happen. He was Adam’s and Adam was his. End of story. Some of the guests were kind of cool though. Since Tommy had grown up with humans, it was only recently that he’d gotten to meet shifters and magical beings. To be around so many of them now was intense. Some had wings, and some of those had feathers while others had shimmery stuff flapping at their backs. Lots of other folks had fur and tails and whiskers. There were even a couple of other guys presented as candidates. Tommy wasn’t clear how that would work out with the whole needing to procreate and shit. Of course, they’d let Adam be in the ritual-thingie, so maybe they had a way around that. Tommy shivered, not wanting to know what kitsune magic would do with two guys to get a kid outta one of them. 

All but one candidate got a rose to open. When the chime never came, the chick, Tommy had completely spaced on her name, frowned, bowed her head to him and left the grove. 

_Huh._ Tommy heard Adam mumble. _So that’s how that works._

_What?_ Tommy asked. 

Adam shook his head slightly. _Nothing._

There was one lady, sort of lady, person, she was shorter than Tommy with skin the color of the Grand Canyon. She was followed in by a swarm of kids, three of whom were presented as her daughters and candidates for the Choosing. They were kinda pretty in a very earthy sort of way. 

_Paissa,_ someone sent to him. He looked around and saw Janice nodding at him from just behind his right shoulder. _The Algonquian tribes called them Paissa, but you would probably call them little people or brownies._

_Huh, cool._

_Nittawosew is the Matriarch of their clan. They are revered for their skill at guiding the spirits of the dead to the afterlife. The three males with her are the fathers of her children._

_Fathers? As in she has more than one husband?_

_Not as some would understand it, but yes._

_That’s pretty rad._ And a heck of a lot like what Säana had suggested to him with all that getting to have her and still keep Adam. He looked at the earthy guys. They were all calm; one was even smiling outright as two smaller kids clung to his legs. They looked happy. Good to know. 

Three more roses bloomed. The thing wasn’t scraggly now, it was downright bristling with stupid roses open and wafting their scent at Tommy. 

A bunch of other people were introduced after the Paissa family. Tommy tried to remember their names but there were just too many in the circle now and it was all blending together behind the headache that was starting.

Another candidate went away when a rose failed to open for him. 

Tommy perked up when he finally saw Säana and Sauli standing together under the archway which was glowing with stars. 

“Her eminence, Lady Säana Koskinen, beloved light of the Lumoava Hämmentää,” Geisha girl said. Säana stepped forward wrapped in the reflected glow from her tail. Sauli walked a few steps behind her, cloaked in his own shimmer of color and light. Behind them walked four others, two older looking foxes with gun-dark steel colored fur, who Tommy guessed to be their parents, and two more foxes with black and white dappled fur wearing long leather vests that might have been armor. 

Tommy sighed with relief when a rose bloomed for Säana. 

“Be welcome, Daughter of the Northern Lights,” Lady Honoka said as Säana bowed before her. 

Sauli winked at Tommy as he bowed to the Empress. Tommy heard a bubble of laughter echo in his thoughts and grinned. His face perfectly composed, Sauli straightened to escort his sister to Tommy’s side of the throne. 

_I’m so glad you guys are here,_ Tommy sent to them in a rush. 

_So are we,_ Sauli replied. 

There was another burst of horns and Tommy fought back a sigh, he was so done with all of this ceremony crap. 

A kitsune with three tails was standing under the archway surrounded by Jasmine that was white instead of all the pink around the Empress. Several other kitsune stood behind her, waiting. The grove went silent, everyone watching and waiting. 

As Steampunk girl announced the newcomer, Tommy remembered that not only was she the last of the candidates, but she was something of a thorn in the works. Her mother was princess of some alternate clan who claimed they were the true heirs to the throne. This time Tommy did roll his eyes. He would be perfectly happy to let them have the stupid throne if it meant he could stop sitting there listening to a million people being announced. 

“Lady Akahana Etsuko, musume Princess Akemi, magomusume Prince Fujitaka, Heika of the Star Jasmine family.”

_Not that simple,_ Adam sent. _Her grandfather, Prince Fujitaka was head of a powerful cadet branch of the Jasmine Throne. They have reason to believe that Lady Honoka is in breach of a bunch of family agreements which should have made Lady Akahana’s mother Empress about two hundred years ago._

Tommy blinked. _How the fuck?_

_Neil has his uses._

Out of the corner of his eye Tommy caught Lady Honoka twitch and then nod her head. Steampunk and Geisha both bowed low to Lady Akahana.

Lady Akahana walked slowly toward the throne, her head high and her arms at her sides, but there was something odd about her expression. Tommy couldn’t put his finger on it but if he’d been asked to guess he would have said she looked nervous. Not like some of the other candidates did, or even the way Tommy had been feeling for hours, but something else. Like she was waiting for something. Her head didn’t move but her eyes kept twitching from one side to the other. 

Half-way across the circle, Lady Akahana paused. Her rust-colored ears swiveled back to front and then, at a hiss from the older female kitsune behind her, she continued forward to the foot of the dais. Akahana dropped into a deep curtsy, head nearly touching the floor and her tails outstretched behind her. 

Tommy watched the kitsune behind Akahana. The elder kitsune paused for a long moment before she bowed to the Empress; once she did the others in their party followed suit. Where Akahana seemed nervous, the older kitsune came across as overly sure of herself, as though she’d already won the prize. Tommy hated her instantly. 

About half the people in the circle appeared surprised when a rose opened for Akahana, the rest were just nodding their heads. Tommy wanted to strangle them all. This was his life, not a freaking poker game. 

“Welcome Lady Akahana,” the Empress said, her voice sharp as a knife, “daughter of Star Jasmine.”

The older kitsune with Akahana straightened up as soon as the Empress finished speaking, a smirk on her face. Lady Akahana stood up and turned to join the other candidates when the guards posted outside the circle were pushed inward. 

Hisses and howls went up around the grove as people recognized the creatures shoving their way in, their arms tattooed with flying beast and running wolves, flashing their fangs and growling. 

“Akuma Ōokami,” Adam growled. 

The gang of Demon Wolves stopped several yards into the circle and formed a gauntlet from the gate toward the center of the circle. A half dozen more Akuma Ōokami strode between the lines of their fellows. All of them were bare to the waist, their full body tattoos showing dark and grizzly against their pale skin. At their core was a female demon, wolf tattoos showing from head to toe between the barely there strips of black leather, and a male wolf, his ears torn and shaggy, wearing matching leather pants edged in silver. On his chest was a dragon that was so realistically drawn it looked like it could leap into the air at any moment. 

Lady Akahana looked terrified. She stumbled over the long hem of her kimono. Akahana’s old-lady kitsune caught Akahana by her elbow and tugged her upright. She handed Akahana off to their escort and stood facing the Wolves, everything about her radiating calm confidence. 

“What is the meaning of this?” Prince Yoshirou demanded, stepping in front of the Empress along with a wall of guards. 

One of the Wolves strode forward and laughed. “What does it look like, little prince with only three tails?”

The crowd growled. Prince Yoshirou stood his ground, his tails tall and proud behind him. 

“You have no business here, Teku,” Yoshirou continued. 

“We have every right to be here!” Teku spread his arms wide, his dragon tat shifting in counter point to his movements. “We have a daughter of mating age. You have a son you need wed. We claim the right to present _Lady_ ,” Teku emphasized the word with a sneer, “Doku for the Choosing.”

The female ‘were he pointed to bared her teeth to the crowd and then dropped into a mockery of a curtsy. 

“This is unacceptable. Take your filth and get out,” the Empress commanded. Her voice was as shrill as Tommy had ever heard it.

Teku laughed. “By your own rules, you can’t kick us out.” He waved the girl forward. “Show them.”

“I was invited.” Deku held out an envelope with the image of a jasmine plant inscribed on it in gold.

Voices exploded into angry chatter all around the room. Tommy didn’t dare look at Adam or Säana. He felt frozen in place as the Demon Wolves grinned directly at him. 

Somewhere off to Tommy’s left there was a flurry of movement. He thought he saw Fumio step between the Empress and her son. Fumio bowed his head toward Teku and, once the crowd settled into quiet, stepped forward and stretched out his hand. He waited as patiently as he had when Tommy first met him. Finally Deku tossed the envelope at him. He caught it without comment, pulled the invitation out, then nodded his head. 

“The Gateway, in its infinite wisdom,” Fumio spoke so that everyone in the grove could hear him. “has seen fit to invite the Lady Doku, daughter and beta to Teku Waguma, to attend the Choosing as a candidate for Prince Thomas.” 

Tommy flicked one ear toward Fumio surprised by his choice of names. Adam could probably tell him what the full political significance of that was, but damn if Tommy understood. Well, beyond the fact that Teku growled low and clenched his fists. If the rest of the wolves didn’t understand that there was some kind of insult going on, Teku sure as shit did. 

A crystalline chime and a purple rose blooming startled everyone in the circle. Teku barked out a laugh and Doku bumped shoulders with the wolves around her. 

Fumio dipped his head toward the Wolves then slipped between the guards and out of sight. 

Tommy could feel the disgust radiating off of the Empress. Her hands gripped the arms of her throne and light glinted off her claw tips. She looked over at Tommy, her masks slipping away, revealing her anger at him. He fought the instinct to call out to Adam’s wolf for protection and waited. Lady Honoka’s fingers went white at the knuckles for a moment then she relaxed her hands and her masks were back in place. The feeling of menace vanished and Tommy was looking at a tiny gray-furred kitsune who looked like she wouldn’t hurt a mouse. 

Lady Honoka looked back at the Wolves. “Welcome, Lady Doku, Akuma Ōokami.”


	12. Chapter Eleven - Legacy

_“The iconic Love’s Star, with its lush multifaceted petals, is not merely a flower of some mild import, but rather it is an idea, a conception of the Fox-kin world, its Axis Mundi if you will. Even to outsiders, it is well known that the nature of Fox-kin society can be mapped quite easily on to the shape and form of the Love’s Star. At the center of the flower we have the yellow stamens of the Golden Heart; this represents the divine connection between Fox-kin and the Great All. The nine petals of Love’s Star represent the nine houses or families, each with its own distinct impact on the society. At the base of the flower, there is the Shaft, i.e. the stem, which supports and upholds all, in this case the magic that empowers Fox-kin and their ability to shift forms."_

– "Flowers as meaning, Meaning as flowers; Love’s Star and the Fox-kin", p. 81  
By Sir Edwin Carmichael, CBE

A mass of purple roses swirled around Tommy. They were glowing, spilling light into the now darkened grove. One of the priestesses had dowsed the fire right before the elder priestess tugged his head down to drape the roses around his neck. They had settled into place as one enormous necklace weighing heavily on his neck and hanging down past his belly button. It had looked kinda like the leis that they’d been given when they had landed in Hawaii the last time they played there, only bigger and thicker and way smellier. The scent itself had nearly knocked Tommy to his feet. It was rich, musky and almost sweet. And it was everywhere. It hung in the air even as the roses spilt from their ring and spread out around him. There was also sound in his head, chords that wove and danced but never resolved into any one song and yet he knew in his gut that he’d heard it before. Beyond the ring of flowers, all the kitsune and were-folk and whatever were moving their mouths. Tommy had heard them when they started, some kind of chant that set his teeth on edge. But now all he could hear, could feel really, deep in his blood, was the song of the roses.

Tommy’s head felt disconnected from his body. The world around him was spinning in counter point to the roses. He swayed and stumbled, nearly falling over but something caught him and held him until he found his footing again. A cool breeze ruffled his hair and the air around him cleared. The smell of life and magic and roses faded and he could breathe again. He could have sworn it was the roses themselves that had come to his rescue, like they knew he was losing it. And really, he had to be losing it if he thought plants were helping him now. 

The candidates for the Choosing were standing in a circle around Tommy, their families and the priestesses in a circle around them. The roses spread out, surging forward like they were racing toward something or someone. A bunch of the flowers stopped abruptly, as though they had hit a wall, and fell to the ground. The others kept moving, homing in on their goal. But then, by threes and fours the roses stalled out and sank. Some seemed to rally for a bit and get a little closer before they too fell. In the end, only three roses made it to their destination. 

Tommy watched with growing horror as the rose aiming for Doku made it to the Akuma Ōokami, circled a couple of times and then settled in her open hands in a shower of black and silver sparks. As it landed a rumble of sound filled the air and the smell of something stale and moldy coiled toward Tommy. The roses on the ground shifted. They all flared painfully bright, burning streaks of fire against his eyelids, and then went dark. He shivered and blinked his eyes several times to clear them. When he could see again, all the fallen roses looked dull and lifeless, like whatever magic had animated them had been ripped away. 

Glancing back to the other candidates, Tommy breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Säana holding a rose that was lit by a spray of multicolored flashes. He picked up the scent of something sweet and heady, not like a rose but something softer with a hint of snow. Tommy looked back up at Säana. The smell got stronger and he got the impression of hundreds of tiny bell-shaped flowers caressing his cheek. Säana smiled at him and a moment later the light of her rose faded, taking its scent with it. 

The third rose settled into Lady Akahana’s hands, showering her with glowing white sparks. Tommy heard a sound like crystal chimes dancing in the wind and he could smell jasmine all around him. A moment later the light and the scent were gone and silence echoed through Tommy’s head. 

He waited, clueless about what came next. There were three Chosen. That made no sense. He had no intention of dealing with Doku ever, and as nice as Akahana seemed, there was too much weirdness surrounding her. Besides, neither of them was Säana or Adam. 

The main priestess-kitsune stepped forward and this time she spoke English. “The Roses have spoken. Now the Chosen must speak.”

“Um, what?” Tommy asked, but she ignored him and looked at Doku instead. 

“Speak? What the hell do you want me to say?” Doku said, tossing her rose on the ground. “Plant choose me, I’m it. I want him, so Princeling’s mine.”

“Hey, wait a minute!” The priestess waved Tommy to silence and turned to Lady Akahana. 

“I-“ Akahana looked over her shoulder. The old-bag growled something and waved her hands at Akahana. Akahana turned back to the priestess and nodded. “I accept.” When the priestess didn’t move away, she continued. “Yes, I choose Prince Daiki for my husband.”

The priestess turned to Säana, ignoring Tommy’s growl of frustration. 

“Yes, I accept and choose Prince Thomas Daiki as my husband.” The smile on Säana’s face was enough to settle some of the butterflies in Tommy’s guts. 

Lightning split the darkness above the grove and Tommy ducked instinctively. As he straightened, he saw others around him were looking uncomfortably at the sky. 

The priestess stared at the gathering clouds for a long moment, her lips moving with silent words. She stamped her staff on the ground, waited a moment and then turned to Tommy. She dipped her head to him and then spread her arms out. 

“Oh, now I get a say?” There was a low growl from where he knew Janice was standing. He muttered a nearly silent “Fine,” and stood up a little straighter. “I, Thomas Joseph Daiki, Prince and son of Yoshiro… heir to the Jasmine throne,” he thought he felt a wave of pride echo through his mind from both Adam and his father. “Choose Lady Säana Koskinen as my wife.”

Teku started shouting and the rest of Akuma Ōokami followed his lead, howling and barking shit at everyone around them. Then a metric ton of the kitsune in the circle started flailing and shouting back. There were so many tails thrashing all over the place that it was impossible to count them all. It was total chaos. Tommy did the only thing he could think of to stay sane: kept his eye locked with Säana and waited for someone to tell him what the hell happened next. 

When the priestess’ demands for order went ignored the Empress clapped her hands three times, bringing the shouting matches to a halt. Everyone turned to Lady Honoka. 

“There will be silence in this grove.” 

A rumble of thunder rang through the trees and the ground beneath Tommy felt like it shifted for a moment. Silence settled over the grove as even the earth and the sky obeyed the Empress. 

“Good.” Lady Honoka dipped her head to the priestess, “Pardon, May’ala Kazumi.”

The priestess bent low as she acknowledged the Empress then stood and turned in a slow circle, her eyes sharp and unrelenting as she looked around the grove and over each person, ending in front of Tommy. She studied him for a long time then muttered something in that odd language she used. 

“The Roses have chosen. The Heir and the Chosen Ones have declared their acceptance and made their preferences known.” She turned her back to Tommy to look at the Chosen. “Name your champions.”

“What?” Tommy asked. No one answered him but suddenly people were moving all over the grove. Janice and Michael pulled him back toward the Empress and out of the chaos. The table and now cold fire pit moved, without any obvious help, off to one side of the circle. 

“What the hell is going on?” Tommy demanded. “What the fuck does she mean by champions?”

“They have to meet the challenge,” Michael whispered. 

That stopped Tommy in his tracks. “The fuck?”

Janice jostled him into moving, explaining as they walked. “Each woman who was chosen and chose you in return has to have someone answer the challenge in her name.”

“You’re fucking kidding me. I just said that I choose Säana, why the hell isn’t that enough?”

“The ritual was created to choose a single, genetically viable partner for the heir. With three options remaining--“ Michael stopped mid thought. He looked over at Janice who shook her head. “The magic can’t do anything other than follow through to the end.”

“It’s fucking stupid.” 

“Tommy!” Janice growled. “You can’t do this now. No matter what your beliefs, the kitsune here have put a major piece of magic into motion and it cannot be stopped. If you try you will break more than yourself. You’ll –“

“What?” Fear caught in Tommy’s throat. 

“This could crack the grove and its magic to the root.”

“How the-“

Janice raised a hand to cut him off. “Not now. Just, please, please stand here and be silent.” When Tommy glared at her, she said, “I swear, I’ll explain all of it to you, in as much detail as you want. But later. Once we are all out of here and everything is set right.”

Tommy stared at Janice. She was honestly scared. He hadn’t thought he’d ever see that look in her eyes. She was a rock. Looking over at Michael, Tommy saw the same fear and concern on his face. They were both really fucking worried. He stretched out a thread of thought to Adam and got nothing but silence. Adam was shielding harder than Tommy had ever felt before. Whatever this all was, whatever it meant, it was seriously not good. 

Tommy nodded. “Okay. I trust you. Tell me what to do.”

“Stay silent,” Janice urged. “No matter what you see, what you think will happen, stay silent. You cannot say anything now that might interfere.”

“No matter what happens, we’ll find a way to make this right for you,” Michael added. 

 

 


	13. Chapter Twelve – Music

_Music is magic’s pathway_  
It flows  
Where Fox-kin dream

\- Recitations on Water and Love, page 372  
By Reverend Elder Auli del Kinoko

The priestess started with Doku again when everything settled down. Doku of course named Teku as her champion. Tommy wanted to wipe the self-assured smirk off their faces with a well-placed smack of his claws.

Lady Akahana, all nervous flutter and wringing of hands, choose a member of her honor guard. Tommy hoped that the ‘honor’ in the guy’s title wasn’t short for ‘honorary’ because he was going to need to be a hell of a fighter to beat Teku. The Akuma Ōokami was as tall as Adam. The fur of his blended form was soot black and there were several long scars on his arms that hadn’t healed well. The tattoos that showed were dull, their once vibrant hues faded, but no less fearsome for the lack of color. The kitsune guard was tall and slender, without the bristling muscle that the ‘were had going on, he looked like he couldn’t hurt a fly. Of course Tommy had yet to see a fat kitsune or one that looked like a body builder. Plus, the kitsune had magic. Maybe that would be enough. 

The priestess turned to Säana. “Name your champion, daughter of the midnight snow.”

Sauli took a step forward and Tommy sucked in a breath. The firefox was strong and had his own magic, but he looked small and weak compared to Teku and Lady Akahana’s guard. 

Säana didn’t acknowledge her brothers presence. She looked straight at the priestess and said, “I name Okuri-Ōokami Lord Adam Lambert as my champion.”

“Säana. No! I’m your champion. Et voi tehdä tätä.” Sauli tugged at Säana’s arm, all but vibrating in his desperation. 

Adam approached as Säana turned to Sauli and even from where he stood, Tommy could see the sorrow in Säana’s eyes. 

“Minulla ei ole muuta mahdollisuutta, Sauli. They will kill you if you fight. We both know how strong Adam is. He is brave and good. He can do this. I am certain. I have to be.”

“Sauli,” Adam said softly. “I want to do this. Please? Will you let me stand for you and your sister? I couldn’t bear it if we lost you today.”

Sauli looked like he wanted to argue, and Tommy would have happily joined him. Sauli swallowed whatever protest was on his tongue and bowed his head. Tommy would have screamed at all three of them if Janice hadn’t had a strong grip on his shoulder. 

“Kiitos.” Säana hugged her brother to her then stepped away to face Adam. “I did not ask you, my Lord, if you would be willing to stand champion for me. Will you?”

Adam glanced at Tommy quickly and then back to Säana. He bowed his head. “Lady Säana, beloved light of the Lumoava Hämmentää,” Adam said without a hiccup, the fucker. “I would be honored to be your champion.”

“Thank you.”

Tommy looked around at the chosen women and their champions as Adam spoke the words Tommy was thinking, “Now what?” 

Doku pulled a knife from her belt. She laughed as she sliced its blade across her palm and rubbed the blood on Teku’s face. He growled something that Tommy thought might have been a laugh and then grabbed Doku and kissed her, smearing the blood between them. Something dull and oily looking shimmered at the point of contact. 

Tommy felt sick to his stomach. His life was going to be hell if Doku won this thing. 

Akahana had also taken a knife to her hand but, being vastly more intelligent and graceful, had offered her hand to her champion, Commander Hotaka. He bowed and clasped his hand with hers. Clean, soft, white light shimmered out from between their hands. 

Tommy closed his eyes, his stomach cramping like a bitch, and fought back the urge to run. 

“It doesn’t have to be blood,” Säana was saying when Tommy looked over at her and Adam. “It’s only a most obvious way to make our connection.”

“So, I could kiss you and it would still work? That would give me whatever magical thing you need me to have to do this?” 

Säana blushed and lowered her eyes. “Yes,” she said softly. 

“Säana. Please -“ Sauli’s voice was ragged with grief. Tommy understood the feeling all too well. 

It was Adam who reached out a hand, caressing Sauli’s face, when Säana clenched her fist and refused to answer. “It’s okay,” Adam whispered and Tommy heard the thought embrace him as well. _I promise._

Adam gathered Säana into his arms and kissed her. Tommy felt the warm press of both their lips radiate across his own skin. Hope flowed between them to Tommy. He swallowed a sob. The feeling was everything he needed in that moment. He wanted to snuggle down into it and never ever move. 

“Champions,” one of the assistant priestesses called out. “May’ala Kazumi calls you to join us in the circle under the light of the full moon.”

Adam pulled back a little, pressed a soft kiss on Säana’s lips and walked away. He stopped beside Terrance and Ashley, bowing a little to speak to them. Whatever he said made both ‘weres shake their heads at him and start to argue with him. When he gestured, Ashley followed his gaze across to Tommy, her eyes meeting his for a moment. She sighed and turned back to Adam nodding her head. Terrance started to say something else, but Ashley stopped him with a hand on his arm. A moment later they crossed the circle to join Janice and Michael in guarding Tommy. 

Adam and the other two champions stepped up to the elder priestess. She waved more burning twigs around them and spoke again in her odd language. She had them drink from separate cups and then pour the leftovers on the ground. Teku spit his mouthful out and the grass sizzled where it landed. There was a crack of thunder that had the priestesses glancing over their shoulders at the edges of the circle. Lightning followed way too closely and everyone shuddered. 

Beside Tommy, Janice sucked in a breath. He turned to look at her but she brushed him off with a wave of her hand. 

“The ritual of Choosing is a rite of connection and binding. To win the challenge, a champion must demonstrate that his lady is the ideal mate for the heir,” the elder said. 

“Bring it on, fox,” Teku said with a snarl. “I could take either of these fools down with one bite.” He snapped his jaws at Commander Hotaka, who ignored him. 

“The challenge is not about you, Teku, or your skill in combat.” The old woman’s voice sounded tired, but she stood tall and faced down the Ōokami. “It is about your lady and what she can bring to the lineage of the Jasmine Throne.”

There was a growl from the demon wolves around Doku. 

“With respect, May’ala Kazumi.” Adam bowed to the priestess. “If the challenge isn’t combat, then what is it?”

“Magic,” she answered and Tommy could’ve sworn she was smiling under all that gray fur. “Wisdom and ingenuity. To renew the life-blood of The Empress of Night jasmine you must craft a functional object that combines the essence of your lady with the essence of Prince Thomas.” 

Tommy blinked at her use of his American name. 

“What is this bullshit?” Teku shouted. “I’m the Akuma Ōokami! Not some kitsune weakling.”

“Then you will fail and your lady will not become a princess of the royal house.”

Akahana’s champion smirked. 

“Again, respectfully, May’ala Kazumi- Lord Teku makes a valid point,” Adam said. “I’m not a kitsune either. I have no magic. How can the challenge be accomplished without it?”

The elder did smile this time. “You have more magic than you believe, singer.” 

She looked from Adam to the other champions. “You each have what you need to complete this challenge or you would not be one of the Champions. It is up to you to decide the best method to make your creation.” 

She turned away and let her assistants lead her to a seat at the edge of the circle. Once settled she pointed her staff. “Lord Teku, Begin.”

Teku preened and strutted back to Doku, slicing off a lock of her hair with his claws. He moved past her, walking around the circle making a show of taking things from people, discarding some with a negligent toss, and keeping others. He feinted a grab at Tommy’s hair then danced backward, laughing as Tommy raised both hands, claws fully extended at him. A few more snatch and grabs from others in the circle and Teku stopped in front of Adam smirking. 

“Your little fox is mine, _singer._ ” he mimicked.

“You have to win, first.” 

Teku tossed his head back and laughed. “Oh, I will. And then I’m going to enjoy your boy.” 

“You’re a whole lotta talk, wolf,” Commander Hotaka said. “Make your object.”

Teku snarled. “Watch and learn, kitsune.” He tossed the assortment of things he’d gathered _stolen_ Tommy thought, into the air. He growled out a string of sounds, and Tommy felt Adam’s shock through their link. He tried to ask what, but Adam was still blocking him. Teku’s assortment of things hovered between Teku and Doku. After a pause, they began spinning slowly, first as individual pieces and then as a unit. Bit by bit the pieces came together in a glowing mass. It looked kind of like a round box. Tommy tilted his head trying to figure out what the hell it was supposed to be. A dull pain started to pulse behind his left ear. The longer he looked at Teku’s slimy gray box, the more uncomfortable Tommy got.

“The fuck?”

Janice touched his arm, shushing him. He rolled his eyes and immediately regretted it. The movement turned the pain sharp and hot. He pressed the palm of his hand to his ear and fought off a groan. He felt himself falling and then hands on his skin holding him up and something cool flowing through his body that pushed the pain back. When he could breathe, he saw that his friends and guardians had caught him before he could actually hit the ground. 

“Shh,” Terrance said softly. “Try not to fight it.”

“We’ve got you,” Michael added. 

They helped him back to his feet and formed a tight circle around him with Terrance and Michael a wall of strength in the front and Ashley and Janice, with their hands on his shoulders, solid at his back. 

“Just keep breathing and let us do this,” Janice whispered to him. “Try not to look at what they’re making.”

Tommy nodded, took a few breaths and felt the pain settle into a tolerable hum at the back of his skull. He nodded again and picked a spot near the priestesses to focus on. 

“Challenge completed by Teku of the Akuma Ōokami,” the elder priestess said. 

Tommy’s stomach turned over again. He swallowed a couple of times hoping he wasn’t going to start puking in front of everyone. Another, louder, crack of thunder rolled down the mountainside freaking everyone out. The lightning that followed lit up the assistant priestesses’ faces and highlighted the worry in their eyes. The elder tipped her head to the clouds. Tommy found himself trying to read the words on her lips as she chanted something. It didn’t work. The angle was wrong, or the words, or maybe it was the fact that he was scared to shit and it was dark as fuck, and where the hell had the moon gone? 

The elder stopped mumbling at the sky and pointed her stick at Akahana’s champion. “Commander Hotaka, Begin.”

Tommy risked a glance over to Hotaka. The Commander knelt before Akahana with his hands outstretched. He must have said something to her because she smiled and placed her rose in his hands. There was a collective “oooh” from around the grove mixed with snarls and catcalls from the Ōokami. 

Hotaka walked to the center of the circle, ignoring Teku’s growled, “Ass-kisser.”

“Close your eyes, Tommy.” Ashely said. “I’ll describe what he does.” 

Tommy closed his eyes and leaned into the support of Ashley and Janice’s hands. 

“He’s whispering to the rose, getting it to spin in his hands.”

“Show off,” Janice muttered and Tommy had a sudden strong desire to kiss her.

“The petals are opening and changing. They’re almost translucent now and larger. Oh, he’s making a chalice.” 

“A lover’s cup,” Michael put in. “See, he’s forming the handles now.”

“The whole thing is glowing,” Ashley continued. “And there’s a long gold stem supporting the bowl.” 

“Ow,” Tommy bent over, clutching his stomach. He was not gonna puke dammit. “Shit. What was that?”

Hands soothed down his back. “Hold on, it’s almost over.”

There was a burst of sound and light that pressed against his eyelids, followed by a suffocating cloud of floral scents. Tommy clenched his fists to his head and trusted the others to keep him from smashing his face into the grass. Tears pushed their way past his closed eyes. There was no air, no ground. He couldn’t see or think. 

A chime sounded and everything stopped. The pain dimmed taking the smells and fucking light with it. Tommy sucked in a deep breath and pushed to his feet. “I’m okay,” he told Ashley. She pressed a kiss to his forehead and pulled back but kept her hand on his shoulder. 

“Challenge completed by Hotaka of the Kitsune,” the elder priestess said. Tommy waited for the sickening flip of his stomach, but it never came. He opened one eye just a little and looked around. Thunder rolled again bringing a quick burst of lightning and the first sprinkle of rain. The elder shivered and mouthed another set of words before pointing to Adam. “Okuri-Ōokami, Lord Lambert, Begin.”

There was long pause and then a susurrus of murmured words. Lightning lit up the grove and carved out the beautiful lines of Adam’s body as he seemed to glide toward Tommy. Tommy would have laughed but it felt like a lifetime since he’d seen Adam. He wanted to touch him, reassure himself that Adam was real and not just some stunning creature out of legend. 

And then Adam was stroking his fingers softly along his Tommy and it was all Tommy could do not to cry. 

“Kiss me,” Adam whispered. 

Tommy couldn’t say anything, even if Janice’s hand wasn’t gripping his shoulder hard, reminding him to keep his mouth shut. He didn’t have any words at that moment. He gave up trying and just leaned forward to meet Adam half way. He sighed as Adam’s lips touched his and let Adam take as much _everything_ as he wanted. 

Tommy sagged against, into, Adam and clutched at his arms, silk bunching under his fingers. ‘Don’t let go’, he wanted to say. He wanted to shift and run in Adam’s shadow and forget everything else. 

_It’s okay,_ Adam told him. _Trust me._

Tommy pressed his face into Adam’s neck, tears burning at the back of his eyes. _Always._

With another kiss, this one soft and sweet, Adam stepped away. Tommy’s arms stretched as Adam moved, he couldn’t get his fingers to unwind from Adam’s sleeves. 

_It really is okay,_ Adam whispered. Tommy nodded once, made himself let go of Adam, and resolutely closed his eyes. 

Tommy didn’t need Ashley to tell him what was happening this time; he could see it in his mind. The moment Adam began to sing was etched into his heart. Wisps of light swirled around Adam, growing larger, longer, richer in hue, with each note. There weren’t any words to Adam’s song but it didn’t matter, Tommy knew what Adam meant. He was calling out, naming, and weaving the truth of connection between himself and Tommy, between Tommy and Säana, and, after a moment between all of them and Sauli. They were all a part of the spell Adam was weaving with his voice. 

He heard Janice’s sigh of wonder beside him; Ashley and Terrance both agreeing like they’d always known Adam’s music could do this. 

Adam slid down an octave, then another, the notes rich and round and full, and Tommy couldn’t resist any longer. He needed to see with all his senses, not just his mind. The headache ratcheted up immediately but it was so worth it to watch Adam wave a hand toward the tallest maple tree in the grove and see the branch light up from within. It shivered, the distinctive pointed leaves joining the song with a sound that reminded Tommy of the first time he’d run to his mother as a child, before his tails and his magic had fucked things up. He had a pebble held proudly in his hands. She’d smiled and swung him into her arms with a laugh.

The branch pulled itself free from the trunk of the tree and sailed into Adam’s outstretched hand. He stroked his other hand along the branch. Several of the secondary branches dropped off. He repeated the gesture until he held a length of smooth wood the color of sunlight. The wood sang under Adam’s hands as he continued to run his hands along it, bending it, inch by inch into the frame of a harp. One part of the branch widened and flattened to create the sound box. Details formed along the lines of the box, holes for the sound, notches for the base. Tommy could feel Adam’s joy as he worked and understood that Adam was drawing curling lines along the box just because he wanted to, because he wanted the instrument to be beautiful for its own sake. The remainder of the branch rose and dipped with Adam’s song, forming first the shoulder and curve, complete with tuning pegs and finally flowing downward to meet the notches in the sound box’s base. 

“It’s gorgeous,” Michael said in awe and Tommy agreed a thousand percent. Adam had formed a harp that could fit in his lap, maybe three feet tall at its highest point, and glowing with magic. 

Adam’s song changed once more, its sound rising up from the depths of Adam’s soul to the highest point in his range, and heck, maybe even beyond. At this point, Tommy wouldn’t put anything past Adam. Holding onto the harp with one hand, Adam turned in a slow circle, stopping in front of Tommy. Tommy felt a tug in his gut, it didn’t hurt exactly, but it wasn’t the best feeling he’d ever had, and it kinda woke up the nausea. A moment later there was an amber cord of light flowing from Tommy to the harp. 

Tommy gasped. His first instinct was to clutch at his stomach and stop whatever was happening, but he made himself look at Adam instead. There was sweat on Adam’s forehead and his brow was furrowed in concentration but there was a promise in his eyes that Tommy looked forward to claiming. Tommy dropped his hands and let Adam take what he needed. 

Strings formed across the harp - some facing away from Tommy, others crossing back toward him. From where Tommy was standing, the strings looked like they were weaving through each other but he knew that had to be an illusion, there was no way the harp would be playable that way. 

Adam waved his free hand and the tugging in Tommy’s gut slowed to a stop, the last of his energy settling on the harp in shining lines of amber. Adam turned to Säana and a moment later she let out a soft sound of surprise and a cord of shimmering silver light flowed from her to the harp, filling in many, but not all, of the open spaces. When Säana’s strings were complete, Adam turned to Sauli, that got people in the grove whispering. Adam drew out a second silver cord, this one just a little darker than then Säana’s. It too wove its way along the harp, filling in spaces in the chord progression. Finally Adam turned the harp so that its width spanned his own body. He paused for a moment then a gold cord formed between him and the harp to complete the missing notes in the harp’s range. 

Adam’s song faded and the grove went silent.


	14. Chapter Thirteen – Truth

_"Falsehood always comes with a price.”_  
\- Kitsune Proverb, origins unknown 

May’ala Kazumi stood up and pointed at Adam, or maybe the harp, Tommy didn’t give a shit because she was also making things official. “Challenge completed by Adam of the moon runners.”

There was a murmur of surprise from the people in the circle then a bark of derisive laughter. “Very pretty, wolf-boy,” Teku snarled. “But does it play?”

"I'll show you mine, if you show me yours," Adam said.

Teku took a step forward and growled. "I don't need to prove anything to a hyped up furball like you."

"Silence," May’ala Kazumi demanded as she slammed her staff on the ground. "You will be silent, all of you."

Adam bowed his head to the priestess. Teku glowered, but kept silent.

"All the objects must demonstrate their competence and compatibility with the heir," May’ala Kazumi turned Adam. "Moon runner, you will begin."

Teku snorted.

“As you wish, May’ala,” Adam replied. He adjusted the harp in his arms and Tommy held his breath. Never once in all the time they’d been together had Adam managed to get the hang of playing an instrument. How the hell he thought he was going to play that harp, Tommy had no fucking clue. 

Before Adam could start, a stool manifested beside him. Tommy caught the hint of a grin on the old priestesses face, and wow Tommy was really starting to like her, a lot. Adam’s smile of gratitude was a little distracted, but he sat down and got the harp settled in his lap. 

Half formed sounds clashed with each other as Adam’s fingers tripped on the strings, his first attempt at playing the harp going wild and raw. Teku and the other Ōokami laughed. Adam resettled his fingers without acknowledging that he’d even heard them. He took a couple of breaths and tried again. The sounds smoothed out, became notes and then melody. Adam breathed out, sending his voice floating into the grove like soft silk under the pure sound of the harp. 

Tommy felt the sound in his stomach at the same point where Adam had drawn the strings from him. It ached like a well-used muscle. 

Note by note, the harp’s song got smoother, stronger under Adam’s fingers until each chord brought a shimmer of light surging out and around Adam. As Adam’s own voice grew louder the light spread out, pushing back the darkness. When the wave of light reached Michael and Terrance, Tommy both heard and felt them sigh. They straightened their shoulders and stood a little taller, as if all the strain of the night had never touched them. Tommy opened his arms and welcomed the light, welcomed Adam’s warmth, against his skin. He let it fill him and rejuvenate his exhausted body. When it passed behind him to Ashley and Janice, the sense of the harp, and Adam’s presence, didn’t vanish, it softened into something less intense. 

All around him, Tommy heard people breathing sighs of relief as the harp’s song reached them. Even the Empress seemed to relax a bit under the harp’s influence. And over on her own stool, May’ala Kazumi was nodding her head and outright smiling. 

The smiles and sounds of contentment lasted right up until the moment the harp’s light touched the box Teku had created. Then the light flared a sickly green, like the worst stink plant or pool of moldy sludge ever. The harp’s song screeched into a series of discordant notes, each one louder than the last. Adam shifted his fingers on the strings, altering the tone of the harp’s sound, and clear golden light pressed at the center of Teku’s box. 

Clouds raced back across the sky, hiding the moon behind thunder and rain. Lightning flashed, bolts touching down around the circle, leaving smoking pits in their wake. 

Tommy doubled over, pain ripping at his guts and drilling into his brain. 

“Tommy!” Someone shouted behind him, then warm hands were lowering him to the ground and pulling him into a lap. 

“Keep your eyes closed, my Prince,” another voice ordered and Tommy didn’t even have breath to bitch at them, because really, he couldn’t have opened his eyes if he’d wanted to. 

The harp and the box shrieked at each other, pushing against one another. Tommy could feel their fight under his skin. It burned and cooled and burned again. Adam’s voice rose above the cacophony, words from his own songs ringing out, fighting back against whatever Teku’s box was doing. 

Adam ended a phrase and there was a moment of near silence followed by an explosion. Tommy twisted and covered his head. He had no idea what the fuck was going on but he knew he needed to get away from the mess that had to be Teku’s box blowing into pieces of angry voices. It was like the auditory embodiment of rage and hatred. Tommy didn’t dare open his eyes. He was sure he would see every nightmare he’d ever had flying toward him. 

People were screaming, adding their fear to the noise and chaos. Tommy could feel the vibration of their feet under him as they ran. 

Around Tommy, other, calmer, voices called out. They got inside his head and made everything worse. He tried to tell them all to shut the fuck up but his mouth wouldn’t work. _Please-_ he begged. A hand touched his forehead and he flinched. Quiet seeped out from the point of contact and slowly the voices, in his head at least, dimmed. A moment later they vanished altogether. His head still hurt like a bitch but he could hear himself think again. He waited a bunch of heart beats and then cautiously opened his eyes. One of the assistant priestess chicks was kneeling beside him, one furry hand stroking through his fringe. She said something in the weird language the priestesses had been using all day. He shook his head, not understanding. She frowned and then her eyes got wide and she nodded her head once. 

“Forgive, please,” she said with a rueful smile. “We live so much in the minds of the ancients that we forget you do not speak with them.” Tommy had no clue what she was talking about but it was in English, so he figured that was a good start. She lifted a necklace from around her neck and presented it to him. “Wear this; it will help protect you from the taint that the Akuma Ōokami has brought into the sanctuary.” 

Tommy let her place the necklace of silver beads and colorful charms over his head and instantly felt calmer. It muffled the sound around him, but the bright shiny shit was a lot easier to look at, so he was more than willing to deal. “Thanks.”

The priestess helped him stand up and then stepped to one side between Ashley and Michael. He was a little surprised she stayed beside him, but when he peeked over at her boss, the May’ala Kazumi was frowning at Teku, not at Tommy and her assistant. And the boss-kitsune was clearly pissed about something. 

Tommy looked around the circle, so damn happy the necklace-thing was doing its job because holy-crap, what a fucking mess. There were coiling strands of something black and nasty looking, ugly even inside his little bubble of safety, radiating out from the broken box at Doku’s feet. They looked a lot like snakes hunting for a meal. She and Teku were gesturing back and forth at each other and yelling shit. Seemed like Teku was trying to blame Doku for whatever was going on. He was obviously lying because a whole bunch of those snaky-things were wrapped happily around him kind of humming and pulsing. And some of the hunting snakes were oozing their way toward a target on the other side of the circle. 

There was a gasp from pretty much everyone when the black shit nosed at Lady Akahana and the cup Hotaka had made for her. Something inside the cup began to glow that sickly green color of Doku’s box, then the light shifted. Ropes of black smoke coiled out of it, and then, as though something were pushing them away, fell to the ground and disappeared. The cup wobbled in Akahanna’s hands right before she dropped it. As it fell the cup began to glow with a clear golden light. 

The snake-things circled Akahana, climbing up her body as they went. At her shoulders they kind of reared up and the tips swiveled around, like they were real creatures scenting the air. Their swaying slowed to a stop, all of the smoke coils pointing behind Akahana; every strand turning from charcoal to a moldy, nasty-ass green all the way back to the box and Teku. The next moment, they sprang over Akahana right at the old bag in her retinue.

“Mother!” Akahana cried out, her arms outstretched to the old kitsune behind her. 

The smoke-snakes were not nice when they found Lady Akahana’s mother, and Tommy didn't even want to know how that old bat had managed to produce such a nice looking daughter. The snakes pounced on mama-Akahana, covering her completely with their oily stink. Her terrified screams rose above the creepy sizzling sound buzzing around her, then the coils tightened and dragged their struggling prey to the ground. 

A concussive wave burst out from the writhing mass of green smoke and screaming kitsune. It knocked people over where they stood. Tommy’s guardians huddled close to him, each of them holding on, keeping him from falling as another wave of sound and hot air rushed past. 

A bolt of lightning lanced down, striking exactly where the old-bag was writhing under the black ooze. Her screams were cut off mid shriek, not that anyone other than Tommy could tell – well maybe May’ala Kazumi. She was staring at the smoking pit with a satisfied look on her face. Nearly everyone else was screaming and trying to get as far away from the pit and its stench as they could. 

In the middle of the maelstrom, the Empress’ guards stepped forward to form a wall of gold and white in front of the throne and Lady Honoka.

“Escort the Lady Akahana out of the circle,” Fumio said from beside the throne. “We will hear a full report of her mother's treason when all is resolved here, at which time our most glorious Empress, Lady Honoka will determine how Lady Akahana and her family will answer for her mother's crimes.”

Akahana barely reacted when the guards took hold of her and led her away. Tommy felt sorry for her, her mother had made a mess of what could have been a great thing for their family. He shook his head and regretted it immediately. All the noise and smoke and the crazy ass magic was overpowering the protection offered by the necklace. He swallowed down the taste of bile and did his best to stand up straight and look like he understood what was going on.

Around the circle the demon wolves were snarling and laughing as Akahana shuffled away.

"Silence,” Fumio commanded, but the wolves ignored him and began to taunt the other candidate families in the circle.

"That is enough," Lady Honoka said from her throne. Tommy turned to look at her. She had a white knuckle grip on the arms of her chair and her eyes were dark, her face a mask of exquisitely controlled anger. "Akuma, you will remove yourself and your band of filth immediately.” 

“No way, bitch-queen.” Teku waved to the smoking pit that had once been a kitsune. “Her Royal kitsune-ness over there promised me a throne and I intend to take what’s mine.”

Teku shifted and leapt into the air, charging full tilt across the circle even before his sooty coat fully covered his wolf body. 

“Säana--” Adam shouted. “Look out!” He started to run toward her but Teku was closer. The other demon wolves, almost at Adam’s back, ran forward, reaching for Adam and snarling at him. They surrounded Adam and cut him off from Säana. 

_I’ll take the throne any way I can, and this little snow-fox is in my way._

“No!” Tommy lurched forward. He needed to stop this. He needed to help. Janice caught and held him in an iron-tight grip. There was a loud tearing sound and beneath them the ground shook. Overhead lightening flashed, close and bright. 

“Tommy stop!” Michael shouted. “You have to stay silent.”

“I can’t!” 

Lightening cracked through the sky, highlighting the terrified faces of the folks in the circle, distorting them into lurid shapes. 

Tommy thrashed against the hands holding him, trying with all he had to get away from Janice and the others. 

“Let me go, fuckers! I’m not a God-damn child. I can help them!”

“Tommy, be still.” Michael had turned. He had a hand on Tommy’s shoulder and another on his arm. He was staring at Tommy, his eyes dark with something Tommy couldn’t name. “No one thinks you’re a child. But now is not the time to race into battle. Now you need to have the courage to stand back and trust.”

“You’re part of the energy, of the ritual,” Janice added. “If you move now, it all shatters.”

Tommy shook his head. He was so torn up and confused. He wanted to deny what they were saying but the evidence was in front of his face. He'd seen lightening crash down around the circle and felt the ground rumble below them the last couple of times he'd spoken out. He shuddered. If he couldn’t help, the least he could do was not make it worse. With a nod to Michael, he sagged back into Janice and Ashley’s arms. 

Across the way Säana was moving, the fabric of her long skirt bunched up in her hands. She twisted around one of Nittawosew’s earth-brown children. The kid was staring around her with wide, fear-filled eyes. 

“You’ll have to catch me first, Demon,” Säana called out as she moved.

One of Nittawosew’s husbands ran forward and snatched the child up. He tried to get out of Säana’s way, but knocked into her, slowing her down. 

Teku laughed as he leapt at Säana. She was able to jump out of reach, just barely. Teku’s claws caught on her arm and tore the sleeve of her dress to shreds. 

_You’re going to have to move faster than that, little girl._ He swiped his claws at Säana again. She managed to duck and run past him. Sauli grabbed her hand and pulled her along with him as Teku charged after her. Sauli and Säana scrambled out of Teku’s path, dodging other candidates and their entourages as they went. 

“Seize the Akuma Ōokami! Remove them from the Empress's presence!” Fumio’s voice rang out over the shouts filling the Grove. 

The Empress’ guards stepped forward with a rattle of metal on metal. As one they drew curved long swords with their right hands and shorter, straighter blades with their left. Several broke off and circled around toward the knot of Akuma Ōokami surrounding Adam. A dozen or more of the Grove Guards in their green leather jerkins stepped out from between the trees, long thin bows drawn and cocked with arrows. 

Tommy watched as Adam took advantage of the guards and forced his way past the demon wolves toward Teku.

“Stand down, Akuma,” one of the Empress’ guards said. He had a blade pointed at Doku’s throat. “Or your beta dies.”

 _Take her!_ Teku snarled in a mental blast of sound that had nearly everyone in the grove wincing in pain. _She’s useless to me now._

Doku howled and threw herself toward Teku. The guards caught her and pulled her out of the Grove still yelling obscenities at everyone and everything. 

“-out of the way!” Sauli shouted. He pushed Säana away from him and toward a group of stragglers in what looked like the Qilin’s party, then ducked into a roll as Teku charged at him. 

_You want to play snow-kit? Then let’s play._ Teku’s laughter rippled through the crowd. The sound made Tommy’s stomach twist and his legs buckle. Ashley and Janice held him upright, murmuring to him words that he could barely hear or care about. 

Teku rammed into Sauli, his large snarling head hitting Sauli in the stomach, bits of spit and foam from Teku’s mouth, following him as he flew across the ground like a broken doll. 

“Sauli!” Säana cried. Teku swiveled his head toward her, his muzzle, dripping wet and bloody. Säana slipped past the Qilin and closer to her brother. “Sauli, get up, please!”

Teku laughed. _One down, one to go._

“Säana get down,” Adam shifted, black and gold fur rippling out to cover his wolf form as he ran. He brushed Säana aside with his shoulder then reared up to meet Teku’s wolf with a howled challenge. The two great bodies slammed into each other almost loud enough to drown out the screaming going on around them. 

“Adam!” Fear overwhelmed Tommy. “Adam, no!” 

Lightening crashed through the chaos of bodies, burning a smoldering pit into the ground beside Tommy. A boulder surged up from a crack in the ground and blocked Adam from Tommy’s view. “NO!” 

“Tommy!” Janice cried. _Stop!_ but Tommy wasn’t listening. His kitsune was pleading with him to go to their mate. He opened his magic to the fox and let himself shift completely. On all fours, he pushed up and out of the pile of silks and beads he’d landed in, and then flailed his front paws as Janice’s strong cougar teeth locked firmly on the scruff of his neck. 

_You have to stay here,_ Terrance barked at him, he was in full wolf form blocking Tommy’s way, sheer fabric and gold collar traded for the silky gray of fur. 

_Fuck you! That’s Adam!_

_You will stand down, or we will lose everything._ Janice shook him once, the rough back and forth of an adult cat schooling an errant kitten. 

_Stay with Janice and Ashley,_ Terrance ordered, already moving with Michael toward the fight. _We’ll help Adam deal with the demon wolf._

Tommy batted at the air, aiming for Janice’s nose, missed and then snarled. _Fuck! Fuck!_ he said. She growled, the sound echoing down his back from her teeth. _Okay. Okay! I’ll stay put. Dammit!_


	15. Chapter Fourteen– Balance

_“For the wheel to turn once more, it first must become unbalanced._  
 _Then, out of this chaos,_  
 _The star must find the land; the water must find the air._  
 _Night, the day; dark, the light._  
 _Winter, its summer; life, its death._  
 _It is in the yearning for our opposite, that we find clarity._  
 _It is in the search for magic, that we find ourselves.”_

\- Twined Lives, the collected works of Oda no Takamochi, page 25  
Jean-Paul Oyenusi, Editor

In the center of the circle Adam and Teku were pacing around each other on all fours.

 _The throne is mine,_ Teku snarled, madness leaking from every pore. There was a bloody gash in his side where Adam had clawed through his fur. It had to hurt, but Teku didn't seem to notice, he was still moving smoothly, trying to circle around Adam, back to Säana. 

_Not gonna happen,_ Adam answered. He met Teku step for step. _You’ve over-played your hand, demon. And you’ve lost._

 _I don’t lose._ Teku growled then took off at a run, feinting to one side before rushing past Adam along the opening he’d forced Adam to create. Teku jumped and landed nearly on top of Sauli. 

_Either I get the throne, or the white-pup dies._ Teku flexed the claws of his right front paw then pressed them against Sauli’s ribcage. Sauli’s fox form vanished, seemingly pushed aside by Teku’s insanity. _I might keep the little princess for a toy. Bet she screams pretty._

 _Get away from him!_ Säana cried. She’d shifted completely, a tiny white ball of fur compared to Teku’s wolf, snarling and growling as she ran for Sauli. _You won’t get either one of us!_

“Säana, No! Stay back. Please.” Sauli was panting for breath under Teku’s weight. There was blood oozing out from between Teku’s claws, seeping down Sauli’s chest. 

Teku laughed. _Brave little foxes. Maybe I’ll let you both live. Make you watch me play with you one at a time._

 _Not a fucking chance, Teku!_ Sauli punched his fist into Teku’s belly then gasped as Teku pushed harder on his chest. 

_What was that, little boy?_

_It is time, my Prince._ A voice whispered in his head. A wave of warmth rolled through Tommy. A breeze with the smell of summer rain followed, washing away his fear. _Time for light and shadow to blend and dance. Time to find the balance and the pathway._

Tommy looked around, searching to find the source of the voice.

Just beyond the wall of guards and frightened kitsune nobles, May’ala Kazumi was staring at him, a strange half smile on her face. She nodded. 

_I have no fu-- freaking idea what you’re talking about._ Tommy hissed.

_Listen to your soul, to the part of you that has always known magic. Has always been fox-kin. You know where the power dwells._

Tommy shook his head at the same time as his kitsune pressed up against his skin. His tails were twisting around, urgent and demanding. His kitsune knew what the old bat meant but Tommy couldn’t understand. 

_Listen, not with your ears, but with your heart, musician._

Music shivered in the air around Tommy. It swirled up and then shifted, dropping to a base-note ripple of drums before climbing into the sky like Adam on one of his best days. 

Light flared from behind each tree but when Tommy looked around him, no one else seemed to see it. Unseen by anyone else, shadows chased the light as the moon set and the sun rose. Leaves fell from the trees then withered and died under a layer of snow but then the snow melted and bright green buds formed everywhere. A moment later Tommy was surrounded by the sight and smell of flowers. 

_What?_ Tommy started to ask but his kitsune barked at him. For the first time in his life, Tommy felt his kitsune as a whole, living, breathing being. He was both one with and separate from the fox. 

_Balance,_ his kitsune seemed to say. _What balances us?_

Tommy shook his head. _I don’t understand!_

 _Balance,_ his kitsune said again and this time Tommy felt and saw Adam where he was fighting Teku, his silky black coat flecked with blood and dirt. Tommy felt a wave of joy, like he’d gotten something right. _Heart to heart. Magic to magic,_ his kitsune said.

Tommy nodded slowly, the answer just out of reach, but so much closer. _Heart to heart. Magic to magic,_ he repeated. _Adam. And me. Magic and music._ He felt a tug behind his belly button and in the sound of Adam's harp circled around and through him . _The harp?_

Approval rippled through the link from both his kitsune and from May’ala Kazumi. A moment later it felt like he was burning up from within. He nearly fell to the ground from the shock of it all. When it passed, the spark that he associated with his kitsune was nestled contentedly under his heart. His tails were gone and his head felt lighter as though his ears had retreated as well. He was fully human for the first time since he'd been pimped and prodded for the ritual. There was also a glowing purple rose resting in his hands. It was the same color as the ones on the candidate bush but larger and cool where it rested against his skin.

There was a gasp of surprise from Ashley and Janice, but all Tommy could focus on was May’ala Kazumi saying, _all magic has a root, and a stem, and buds that reach up to the heavens._

_Roots, buds. Right._

With his kitsune back within him, the noise of the Grove seemed overwhelming: Teku’s snarls as he attacked Adam, Adam’s barks and growls as he danced out of way and then closed with Teku again. The scent of blood was thick in the air, drowning out the memory of the spring he’d experienced. 

_Focus, shit-head. What do you know? What are the notes? What’s the melody?_ Adam’s face shimmered behind Tommy’s closed eyelids, smiling, tired, sated, silly, but always Adam, always mate. Winds curled around Tommy, lifting the hair from his forehead and tugging on the hem of his robe. 

The image of Adam receded and Säana’s face, all soft lines and quiet understanding, emerged from a swirl of water at the center of a well or a cup or something. He felt cool rain on his skin and when he licked his lips he could have sworn he tasted fresh water. 

_Okay. Adam and Säana. That’s kind of a balance. The two people I was gonna, like spend my life with because of this crazy shit._ But even as Tommy thought the words, Sauli’s face was smiling at him out of a burst of sunlight. Sauli was laughing, dancing, running through the trees and rolling on the ground covered in bright white fur.

 _How the hell does…_ Tommy felt his kitsune do something. It was almost like the feeling of one of the pack wolves when they butted him in the side with their heads to get his attention. _What? Ok, I get it-- Sauli is part of this. But-- yeah, no. I don’t get it. How the hell? What the hell?!_

There was a tug on Tommy’s feet. He looked down; well, looked down through his closed eye-lids which only sort of made sense except for how he could totally see his feet and the grass growing a mile a minute around them. He tried to lift one leg up but it wouldn’t move. The more he moved, the more it felt like he was pulling against himself and the ground. It was like there were roots going down through his feet and into the earth. _The fuck?_

The rose in Tommy’s hands started to shake and Tommy opened his eyes to look down. As he watched, the stem elongated and changed color. The green faded into gray and, as that became silver, the whole thing gained mass. The center of the flower expanded, the stamens wriggled over and around each other into the shape of an open-worked gold ball. The petals shimmered and twisted and then they too changed, dropping down to form nine dangling oval things, each glinting with a different color. 

"What the hell?" Tommy was so surprised he almost dropped the thing. Figuring that was a really bad idea, he got both hands wrapped around the parts of the silver rod and held on. 

He heard chuckling in his head and then the quiet whisper of May’ala Kazumi. _I told them you could find it._

_Find what? What the fuck is this thing? I mean beyond the obvious really-- heavy and shiny._

_Love’s Star,_ she said like it was obvious. _the scepter of the first Royal house of the fox-kin._

 _Riiiiight,_ Tommy thought back at her. _And this will help me how?_

_Listen to your heart. You have everything you need. Now you must trust and choose to believe._

_What the heck are you talking about?_ Her only response was silence. _God dammit!_

Tommy's kitsune brushed a thought across Tommy’s mind, then another one, and then another; it kind of felt like tails stroking across his skin, trying to get his attention. _Sure, why the hell not,_ Tommy thought with a shrug. _Whacha got for me?_

A burst of happiness radiated out from his heart to the tips of his toes and Tommy laughed. It was weird as hell to be communicating with his kitsune in quite this way, but he thought he could get used to it. There was another gentle brush of fur against fur and then an image began to form he closed his eyes to try and see it better. 

In the image Tommy was standing at the center of a circle that looked a lot like the Grove, except without all the lightning bolts and crazy people. In the sky high above him, was a full moon, and he knew even without turning his head, but there were only three other people with him. Tommy opened his eyes and gasped when the shadowy image of Adam was there in front of him. Adam’s doppelgänger was nearly transparent, yet Tommy could see Adam and Teku fighting just beyond. On his right and just a little behind him was an equally transparent Säana and on his left, a shade of Sauli. 

The scepter in hands felt stupidly heavy, and like it was heating up. 

__Don't let go,_ his kitsune whispered. _

Tommy felt that same tug on his gut that had happened when Adam had created the harp and again when he’d played it. A line of light made of twisted strands of gold and amber flowed from Tommy’s middle to Adam. A second line of light flowed out from Tommy toward Säana, this one made of amber and pale silver. A third line formed between Tommy and Sauli of amber and almost steel-dark silver.

_No. I . No can’t --_ Tommy shuddered. _I don’t know how to do that. To make that-- those cord-things happened. Adam did that. Not me._

All of a sudden Tommy felt horribly alone. A part of him knew he was standing in the middle of a whole mess of people, and even the vision inside his head had people, friends. None of that mattered. None of that took away the crushing weight Tommy felt in that moment. It felt like everyone was looking at him to fix something he didn't even understand. Something he'd only found out about a month or two ago. He wasn't really a Prince or magician or any of those things, he was just himself. 

He turned pleading eyes up to May’ala Kazumi _I can't do this. I'm not the one you need._

From all the way across the circle, Tommy felt the weight of the priestess’s consideration. He expected her to shout at him or tear the stupid scepter out of his hands. Hell he'd be happy to give it to her. But she just looked at him and smiled softly. Then she bent over and placed her staff on the ground at her feet. As she sat back up, Tommy saw her close her eyes, smile never leaving her lips. She settled her hands, palms upward on her thighs and then simply stopped. She didn't move, she didn't shift. Tommy wasn't even sure she was breathing.

 _No! Please, I can’t do this. Not alone. You have to--._

Tommy stopped pleading. 

The old kitsune wasn't moving. She wasn't answering him.

On the battlefield Teku rocked back as Adam swiped at him with his claws. Teku looked wrecked, his skin was torn and bloody along both flanks and his muzzle was covered with spittle. He was still fighting, still growling out insults even as his movements slowed. Adam was moving better, but there were long gashes along one side and down over his back hip. Neither one of them was going to last much longer. This had to stop, and apparently Tommy was the one to make that happen. 

He took a deep breath, rocked back on his heels, and settled himself, searching for that sense of connection that he’d had when he saw the roots growing through his feet. It was weird and uncomfortable but after a moment, something clicked. He felt himself grow down into the earth and high, up into the sky like one of the trees that ringed to the circle.

“Okay then,” Tommy muttered and let himself sink into the sensation of being completely held and supported. 

His first attempt at drawing swirly strings out of his gut, was a complete and utter failure. He’d tried to pull them out like Adam had, but since he had no idea what Adam had actually done, it ended up feeling like somebody was ripping his insides to pieces. When his knees buckled he expected Ashley or Janice to try and hold him up, but nothing happened. He could see people around him but it was like they couldn't see him or they couldn't see what he was doing. Everyone except May’ala Kazumi’s assistant. She was looking right at him like she could see him, but she still did nothing. 

He fought back a shiver; shit was getting way too weird.

 _Shit. Okay. What was Adam doing when he made the strings?_ Tommy asked himself. He tried to see back to that moment, to re-watch what Adam had done, but so much had happened since then. 

_Come on, dammit!_

Tommy’s kitsune whined at him and Tommy flicked a thought back to him of Tommy petting the auburn colored fur. Thought jarred memory, a sensation of stroking his fingers across…

 _Strings._

Tommy’s fingers played a cord against the heavy shaft of the scepter. 

_Chords._

He tilted his head and tried another run of notes along the metal. He could almost hear what he was looking for. It was just on the other side -- He looked out to where Adam was backing Teku against a line of Guards and the notes in his head changed. He searched for Säana and found her, still robed in white fox fur, guarding Sauli. The sound changed again, the heart of the melody coming closer to true as he modulated the chords along the scepter’s length. 

The world whited out for a moment when all the pieces fell into place. Tommy squeezed his eyes shut and kept playing, repeating the melody over and over again, willing the cords of light to follow the music and connect him to the other three. 

Pain flared deep in his stomach, but he ignored it. He’d played way longer shows than this, one fucking stomach cramp wasn’t going to stop him. 

He felt it when the light cords connected with Adam, Säana and Sauli. He was choking on light and sound as their thoughts, feelings, memories and dreams came flooding into him. The energy sparked and crackled between them. It didn’t want to bond to a shape or a direction. It wanted freedom. It wanted to touch everyone and everything around them. Tommy had to fight to keep it in line. He altered his fingering again, thinking about when he’d first been learning to play and how his fingers would bleed and then they’d slip and slid across the strings. 

"Fuck no,” he growled. “You will fucking do what I want. I’m sick and tired of all this magic shit and You. Will. Do. What. I. Say!” The strings of light locked into place under his fingers, the melody riding thick and true through the middle, grounding everything and giving the harmonies room to play. “Everyone keeps tell me I’m a fucking Prince, so fine. If I’m a Prince, then I order you to --"

Tommy almost lost control of it all right then. He had no idea what needed to be done. _Shit!_

 _Balance,_ his kitsune said, a distant echo in his head. 

“Jesus Fucki--!” Tommy shouted. He fought the light and energy and sound for control. Then, before he could wimp out, he gave an order. “Balance it all out! Light and dark, night and day, weak and strong, us and them. What the fuck ever -- just balance the scales the way they need to be, the way they should be!”

There was an explosion of heat beneath and between his fingers as energy shot out from his gut along all three cords of light. He could hear Adam, Säana and Sauli’s grunts and shouts of surprise as the magic hit them. Sauli seemed to understand what was going on first. He picked up Tommy’s words and repeated them, his voice weaving into the music Tommy was still playing along the scepter’s rod. 

_Balance. Harmony._ Sauli called out. _Understanding that sorrow enhances joy and light shows us our shadows._

Säana’s voice was weak at first, her fire-fox translating the words from English to Finnish to some other language that Tommy didn’t know. He didn’t think she’d shifted back to English, but he heard her words as clearly as if she had. _Heart to heart_ She sang. _Magic to magic. Winter to summer, life to death to life again._

 _Me to you,_ Adam sang as his voice joined the mix. _Lover to friend, sister to brother. Family._

As one, they took up Adam’s final word, wrapping it around each strand of light and pushing it deep into the golden heart of the scepter. _Family!_

The scepter fell from Tommy’s hands, glowing red hot. His fingers were puffy and burning at the tips and his legs had no energy left to hold him up. The last thing he remembered before darkness took him was the echoing chant of “family” from all around him, and, at the sight of Teku’s chard corpse, the clear knowledge that Teku was dead and couldn’t hurt them anymore. 


	16. Chapter Fifteen – Healing

_"The furred form of the shifter is both carved from and builds upon the rivers of magical energy, which run through all shifter-kin. Because of this, while some wounds and illnesses can be treated with the shifter in their human aspect, it is best to address any magical elements while the patient is housed in their furred form."_

– "Signs and treatment methods, fourth edition, volume two”, p. 17  
By Dr. Jacob Starleaf, senior medical officer, Rising Water clan, Virginia, USA 

Tommy’s head hurt. His lungs felt stuffed full of smoke and his magic was twitching in alternating pulses that burned along his bones. He felt trapped in the tiny space of his kitsune form. Didn’t even know when he’d shifted but he wanted to change back, to become human again and make the pain stop, but he couldn’t. Something, someone kept stopping him.

“Shh,” a voice said. It was light and sweet and carried a flurry of snow to his senses. “Don’t try to shift. Just relax and let the healers work.”

A hand stroked over his ears and down his back, flattening and smoothing his fur as it went. He could feel it taking away the things that itched and buzzed with ‘wrong’ and leaving behind comfort. He sighed and tucked his tails over his nose. 

“That’s it. Sleep,” the voice whispered.

*

The next time Tommy woke it was to sounds of someone in pain and the sharp tug of confusion across his mind. He struggled to push up onto his hind legs. He wanted to sit up, to find the one who was crying out. His legs were wobbly, tangled in a nest of blankets, and his head muddled. He collapsed back into the blankets with a wince.

The wolf-whine of pain came again. It was so close. Tommy knew that sound. He knew the wolf that hurt. Tommy swiveled his ears, his nose twitching, hunting for the sound and smell of his mate. Adam was nearby and hurting. Tommy needed to find him. 

A high pitched bark, the command cry of a fox, cut through Tommy’s confusion and silenced Adam. There was a rumble of sound; if Adam had been in human form it would have been a whimper, but either way it was unhappy. Tommy’s eyes finally found Adam. He was in a nest of blankets across the room from him surrounded by brown and white fox-kin. The snow-white fox had a long fluffy tail that sparked with multi-colored light. 

Tommy yipped. The kitsune and the fire fox turned toward him. The eyes of the fire-fox were dark brown, Sauli-colored, and worried. Sauli yipped back, a soothing sound even through his concerns. 

_What’s wrong?_ Tommy asked. _Why is Adam hurting?_

_He’s going to be okay._

Tommy turned his head. Säana was beside him, the multi-colored lights along her tail twitching as fast as Sauli’s and the tip of her tail flicking back and forth in a nervous gesture that was unmistakable. 

_He’ll be fine._ Säana pressed her nosed to Tommy’s. 

_But- what’s wrong? What happened?_

_Not now. You need to sleep._

_No! I need to know -_ Adam’s howl of pain cut off Tommy’s thought. 

Tommy struggled to stand. He needed to be with his mate. He needed to help him. Adam was fighting against the kitsune and foxes around him. There was something black and oily along his neck and in the long hairs on his flank. It looked horrible. Every time Adam moved the ooze shifted leaving smoking trails in his fur. 

Sauli placed a paw on Adam’s nose and forced his head down. Adam growled, resisting the command, back legs scrambling, tearing at the blankets in his effort to stand. 

_Adam!_ Tommy called out. He got his front legs over the edge of his nest and was pushing out when Säana’s teeth clamped down on his scruff. _No!_ she growled around his fur. _Let the healers -_

 _I can help. He’s my mate!_ Tommy struggled in her grasp. 

Across the room Sauli barked and Adam stilled. Tommy watched Sauli press Adam back down into the blankets, his paw never leaving Adam’s nose. 

_Please, Säana -_ Tommy begged, his tails tangling around her front legs, tugging at her, trying to pull her off balance. He was too weak and Säana too determined. Her legs didn’t budge and her teeth stayed locked on Tommy’s neck. 

Tommy didn’t see the grey kitsune until its paws were over his eyes. There was a bright flash of light and then Tommy slipped into darkness.

*

The next time Tommy woke he was pressed warm and close between two balls of white fur and Adam’s long black and gold body. Adam was watching him, his eyes nearly as gold as his belly fur. Adam chuffed softly when their eyes met.

 _Hi,_ Adam said, his mind voice quiet. 

_Hi._ Tommy inched closer to Adam and Adam opened the circle of his front paws, making room. When he was wedged in under Adam’s chin and could feel Adam’s heartbeat thudding against his flank, Tommy let out a sigh and settled his head on their interwoven paws. 

_You okay?_ Tommy asked after a while. 

_Mm hmm. Better now that you are too._

_What happened?_

_Magic backlash or something_ Adam mumbled. _Sent shockwaves through the grove. Knocked down a bunch of trees and kicked pretty much all of us in the ass._

_Um… what?_

One of the two lumps of white fur raised its head. It looked right at Tommy and blinked, then yawned. Tommy realized for the first time that this fox had a smudge of grey under its chin, kind of like a mini, furry, goatee. That had to be Sauli; Säana’s face was pure white except for the black “eye liner” around her eyes. Sauli yipped softly and sent an image of himself in human form smiling. 

_Adam’s harp broke Teku’s making-spell, but your spell purged the grove of all the poison that had seeped in during the ritual. The power of that un-making created a backlash of magic._ When Tommy tilted his head in confusion Sauli clarified. _When a spell is broken the energy that created it has to go somewhere. Normally it returns to the one who cast it._

_Normally. So when the harp kicked Teku-box-butt, the spell broke and what- turned into a big fucking cloud of black, soul eating ooze?_

Adam and Sauli barked, amused. _Fucking horror films,_ Adam grumbled. 

_Don’t be harshing on Jason man, I’ve seen some of the shit you watch._

_Whatever._

Tommy flicked his ears at Adam. They were so watching a Friday the 13th marathon when they got back on the busses. 

_That was not a soul eating cloud,_ Sauli said. _Still bad._

_What was it?_

_Bad magic. Polluted. Filled with anger. Hate._ Säana said, opening her eyes.

Tommy shivered. _Teku’s anger?_

_And Princess Akemi’s._

_Princess who?_

Säana sent a caress of amusement to Tommy then answered. _Lady Akahana’s mother._

 _What the fuck was her problem?_ Tommy lifted his head too quickly and banged it against Adam’s jaw. Adam chuffed at him. _Sorry,_ he said and then leaned his head back and licked the underside of Adam’s jaw. 

_Bitterness had filled her soul. She and Teku both believed they deserved to take what they wanted,_ Sauli said. His mind voice was dripping with scorn and something close to disgust. 

_The Jasmine throne,_ Tommy said, feeling the pieces settle into place. 

_Yes. She had become ugly and mean._

_Sauli!_ Säana lifted her head and glared at her brother. Sauli flicked his tail, sending a rush of fireworks at her. Säana’s tail came up in a graceful arc, deflecting the lights up to burst over their heads. Patterns of color rippled green and purple and blue across their bodies, brighter on the sibling’s coats, the hues dim and distorted over Tommy’s fur, and nearly invisible in the dark depths of Adam’s. 

Sauli snorted and dropped his head to his paws, his tail curling around him with only a few small bursts of color.

Adam huffed a gust of air over Tommy’s head and laughter filled the link between all four of them. 

_She certainly didn’t want you to be chosen, Säana,_ Adam said. _And she was willing to make a deal with the Akami Ōokami to get her family back on the throne._

 _She betrayed the secrets of the Grove. And she put her own daughter up as collateral._ Säana shook her head, her anger rising.

Tommy pressed back into Adam’s warmth and thought over the ritual-thing. His memories were hazy, split between the chaos in the grove and the weird stuff inside his head. _So that’s why the snake things only hurt Princess Whats-her-name, not Akahana._

_Yes,_ Säana said, her voice both sad and angry. Tommy canted his head at her. She flicked her ears and tilted her head at him, the fox equivalent of a shrug. _The magic she gave to Teku backlashed when his spell was broken. If it had been an honest mistake, it might not have had such power. But she was not --not._ Säana said something in a burst of Finnish then paused. Tommy could feel her trying to sort out and calm her thoughts. _She was not honorable or kind. In trying to take what wasn’t theirs, she and Teku hurt all of us._ Säana put her head down and covered her face with her tail. 

Tommy saw the pain in her eyes before she could hide it away. She was trying to be strong, but Tommy could feel the fear underneath. She’d almost lost everything when the ritual imploded.

 _Säana?_ When she didn’t answer Tommy crept out from between Adam’s paws. Adam nudged his back gently with his nose, a soft agreement with Tommy’s actions. Tommy tapped a paw against one of Säana’s, but she didn’t drop her tail. _Säana. It’s okay._

Säana’s head swiveled side to side, her ears drooping with the movement. Tommy crept a little closer and pushed his head, nose first, under her tail. Within the shadows of her hiding place, Säana’s eyes were shadowed. She watched him wiggle in until he had his jaw pressed up against the side of hers. 

_She didn’t win._ Tommy said, trying to infuse his thoughts with reassurance. 

_I know._

_I’m okay._

Her ears flicked forward, Tommy decided to take that for agreement. 

_Sauli and Adam are safe too._

_Tiedän,_ Säana said, slipping into Finnish in her frustration. Her ears moved again and her tail twitched, flecks of dark red light sparking up its length. Tommy wondered for a moment if the colors signified Säana’s emotions. He’d have to check that out. Another time. 

_It’s over. Really, really over._

_I know._ Säana’s tail twitched again, sparking yellow and orange. 

_This is your ‘knowing’ face? Like, really?_

Tommy could feel Säana fighting back a laugh. Green sparks of light joined the yellow and orange to shimmer up the fur of her tail and creep across her back. Tommy pushed against her cheek. 

Säana huffed. 

Sauli laughed and Adam sent them all an image of him rolling his eyes. 

Säana’s tail whipped out past Tommy’s shoulders, multi-colored light rippling as it moved. There was a burst of light and then a surprised bark from Adam. 

_Ow, hey, what’d I do?_ Adam complained. 

Säana huffed again, but Tommy could feel her happiness pushing away the shadows. 

_Oh, you’re gonna be good to have at the next Performers vs. Crew kickball game,_ Tommy quipped and then barked in surprise as Adam’s teeth gripped the scruff of his neck. Adam tugged, gently dragging Tommy backwards away from Säana. 

_Hey!_

_What?_ Adam asked, his mind voice filled with humor. _Nothing we can do till the healers release us. Might as well be comfortable._ Adam added, tucking Tommy in under his chest and licking Tommy’s ears. 

Tommy started to argue with him, but Adam cut him off with another lick across Tommy’s ears. _No, really._

Säana and Sauli barked, amusement flowing from them, and stood up. They circled Adam and Tommy, in opposite directions, then flopped down into place on either side of Adam. With matching contented sighs they pushed their heads against Adam’s flanks. 

_Better?_ Sauli asked. 

_Much,_ Säana agreed.


	17. Epilogue – Love

 

_" love shreds expectations,_  
 _refills our souls with need,_  
 _leaves us bereft of selfhood,_  
 _only to show us the surety of ourselves_  
 _within another-_  
 _and another-_  
 _and another."_

– "Love and other confusions"  
By Alejandro P. E. Pruzansky 

The day was cold but lovely, warm enough to enjoy being outside for the first time in more than a month. Winter in the Arctic Circle was rough on everyone, even the Revontulet. But spring was finally breaking through the crust of winter and the weak sun lifted Säana’s heart. Its light made the blankets of snow covering the meadow glisten and provided more than enough distraction for her three boys.

Säana smiled to herself and flicked back one white-furred ear. 

She’d always assumed that she would have a traditional Revontulet marriage. A mate would be chosen for her, he would move into her home den and eventually she would give birth to an heir. To have Tommy as her husband, Adam as their co-mate and Tommy’s consort and Sauli as co-mate to Tommy and Adam? All while they traveled the world together? That was more happiness than she had ever allowed herself to hope for. 

And it seemed that with the success of their most recent meeting with Tommy’s parents, safely away from the prying eyes of the kitsune court, even there happiness was blooming. 

A flicker of energy sparked in her belly and she shivered. 

_Hey!_ Tommy barked as Sauli sent him tails over nose into a snow bank. _No fair!_

She heard Adam’s laughter before the echo of his bark reached her. _Just because you’re as easy to spot in the snow as a Perez Hilton with a hard on--_

 _Ewwwww!_ Sauli and Tommy both groaned. Säana felt Adam’s wink through a direct link and then he was off, snow vaulting into the air as he pounced after Tommy and Sauli. A moment later they were all laughing as his large wolf body floundered into a hidden crevice. He yipped piteously at them. 

_Does the big bad wolf need our help?_ Tommy snarked. He leapt lightly across the snow and landed a breath away from Adam. He tapped Adam’s nose with a paw and then leapt out of reach. 

_I’ll show you big bad wolf, you brat!_

Adam clawed his way out of the sink hole, strong black legs sending snow in every direction. For a second it looked like he wasn’t going to make it, then with a growl he surged up. Once he had his paws under him he took off after Tommy. 

Sauli shadowed them as they raced around the meadow. His snow-white fur made it easy for him to hide from them until he wanted to be seen. Säana hid a grin as her brother snuck up on his mates and pounced. He knocked Tommy to the ground and rolled down hill with him, white fur and auburn mixing into one squirming ball of fox-kin. Adam barked a laugh and followed more gracefully behind them. 

_You gotta stop being so stealthy man,_ Tommy said, standing up and shaking the snow off his fur. 

_Why? It’s more fun this way!_ Sauli replied. 

_He has a point,_ Adam remarked then scrambled out of reach as Tommy tried to snap at his jaw. 

Säana laughed and all three turned their heads toward her. They were an impressive set, winter white, auburn like leaves in the fall, and the deep black of night with a hint of sunlight. And they were all hers. Each in their own way. Now, more than ever. 

_You gonna join us or just stand there and look all beautiful and shit?_

_Smooth, Tommy,_ Adam said, shaking his muzzle. _Real smooth._

_Hey! She married me, she knew what she was getting._

Sauli pressed his nose to Tommy’s scruff. _As did we, rakastaja._

_Come on, Säana. Come help me keep these two in line, will you?_

Säana chuckled and started down the embankment toward them. _Yes, because you need so much help._ She felt another flicker of energy ripple through her and paused, waiting. 

_What’s up?_ Adam asked, his curiosity quickly shifting to concern when she didn’t answer him. 

Säana waited, gripping her claws into the crust of snow under her paws. Another flicker, this one brighter and louder than the other two, sang out through her body and she sighed in relief. 

_Sorry, I’m coming._

All three males crowed up against her as she joined them at the bottom of the hill. They pressed their flanks along hers and nosed at her neck, licking her fur in welcome and love. 

_Why did you stop just now?_ Sauli asked. 

Säana licked over the top of his ears. _I needed to be sure._

 _Sure of what?_ Adam asked. He rubbed his jaw along the top of her head and she licked the short fur along his throat. 

_Sure I was right._ She turned to Tommy and licked along his muzzle. He licked her back, his dark eyes intense. 

_What aren’t you telling us?_ Tommy asked. 

Säana laughed, all her joy pouring out in a yip that echoed across the hills. _I wanted to be sure that we were going to be parents._

All three males blinked at her. 

_Parents? You’re positive?_ Tommy asked, leaning in close to scent her. 

She nodded her head, letting each of them scent her in turn.

 _A kid--_ Tommy said, his voice filled with wonder. 

_Kids. Three._ Säana told him, not bothering to hide her satisfied smirk. 

_Three?!_ Adam and Sauli exclaimed at the same time. Tommy sat down on his haunches and stared at her.

 _Three,_ she replied, then she unshielded the link that was building between her and the kits and let them sense the babies. 

_Kitsune,_ Tommy whispered, his voice filled with a stunned kind of awe. 

Sanaa nodded, then looked at Adam. He’d settled back on his haunches as well, amazement clear in his face and his mind voice. 

_Wolf,_ Adam whispered. 

_Revontulet,_ Sauli added. _But how?_

Säana smiled. _Magic._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A word about Säana. Yes, I know that Sauli’s twin is Sara but she’s not a public figure and frankly I just could not make my brain or my fingers include her in this story. I know it’s weird since this is already an RPF story, but there you go. Also Saana’s name doesn't actually have the nifty extra bit over the first a, but I was playing with some ancestral things in my head…so, yeah.
> 
> Also, also, I have about a dozen or more pages of data for this story. Have I mentioned lately that I really like to do research? 
> 
> Also, also, also, because my husband knows me too well, when I got stuck on how to deal with all the stuff about the Choosing Thing (TM) he pointed out that I was going to have to write the complete Ritual of Choosing to understand what Tommy goes through. I growled at him for about a minute and then stomped off to start writing. Yeah, I’m also that kind of writer. *sigh*
> 
> Title is from the song: “The Rolling World” by Ruth Barrett & Cyntia Smith  
>  _And like the rolling world_  
>  The Wheel of Life is a-turning  
> We weave the circle dance  
> Upon this rolling world of learning.


End file.
